HONOLULU (AP) — Federal officials are investigating why two
passenger jetliners got too close to each other in the air over
Hawaii.  They say a United Airlines pilot quickly descended
after getting a cockpit alert about an oncoming US Airways
flight on April 25.  A government official familiar with the
investigation says the planes were about 8 miles apart
horizontally when the United plane maneuvered to avoid the other
plane. He says he doesn't know the planes' vertical distance or
whether they would have collided had they stayed on course.  The
official says the planes were 5.3 miles apart horizontally and
800 feet apart vertically about 12 seconds later.  The official
insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to release
the preliminary information.  National Transportation Safety
Board spokesman Terry Williams says investigators are reviewing
air traffic control procedures, and audio and radar data to
determine what happened.