Two Chinese planes came dangerously close to a mid-air collision over Siberia after an Air China A350 climbed without clearance, according to flight data.

The incident, which occurred earlier this month over Tuva near the Mongolian border, saw an Air China Airbus A350 and an SF Airlines cargo 767 pass within just 90 to 120 meters of each other, far below the global safety minimum of 305 meters.

Air China Flight CA967, en route from Shanghai to Milan, inexplicably ascended from 10,394 meters to 10,973 meters, directly into the path of SF Airlines Flight CSS128 flying from Budapest to Ezhou.

Russian controllers had ordered nearby aircraft to maintain altitude, but the Air China pilot appeared to misinterpret the message and began climbing without permission.

Moments later, both planes’ collision avoidance systems (TCAS) activated as pilots received urgent commands to steer away from each other.

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