Take a look at these near aircraft collisions. I know the common term is “near miss,” but that’s a misnomer. A “near miss” is actually a complete miss.

I remember riding in a plane that was coming in for a landing. Just as we were about to touchdown, the pilot abruptly pulled the plane back into the air. We were all waiting to find out what happened. After a couple of minutes, the pilot spoke: “Sorry about that, folks. As we came in for a landing, we noticed there was a small plane on our landing strip.”

Glad he was paying attention. Our near mishap didn’t make it to this amazing list.

Rob Spiegel has covered manufacturing for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include automation, supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cybersecurity. For 10 years, he was the owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.