Near collision between 2 planes in Austin triggers FAA investigation: NPR

Southwest Airlines planes are seen at Austin Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas on January 22.

Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

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Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

Southwest Airlines planes are seen at Austin Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas on January 22.

Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

A FedEx cargo plane was forced to change course during a landing attempt after a Southwest Airlines plane was cleared from the same runway at an airport in Austin, Texas, the Federal said. Aviation Administration.

The FedEx plane was cleared to land several miles from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturday morning, according to preliminary information, the FAA said. Shortly before the FedEx plane was scheduled to land, an air traffic controller cleared the Southwest flight to take off.

“The pilot of the FedEx aircraft aborted the landing and initiated a climb,” the FAA said in a statement. “The Southwest flight departed safely.”

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are both investigating the near miss.

The FedEx crew, already cleared to land, were about 3 miles from the runway when the Southwest jet was cleared to take off, according to flight data interpreted by FlightRadar24.

The Southwest flight was still on the runway when the FedEx crew reached it – suggesting a time lag of the Southwest crew initiating takeoff – prompting the FedEx pilots to abort their landing.

“At the closest point horizontally, the planes were within 1,000 feet of each other,” the site reported, while noting that the lack of data points at the same time prevents an exact calculation of the distance. .

The Southwest flight continued its departure and arrived safely in Cancun, FlightRadar24 said, while the FedEx flight circled the airfield and landed safely 12 minutes later.

Weather conditions were less than ideal at the time of the incident, although it is unclear whether visibility played a role. A foggy morning resulted in low visibility which only worsened closer to the incident, according to weather data cited by the flight blog.

This is the second high-profile close call to occur in a month. A similar near miss occurred at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport when an American Airlines flight crossed the same runway from which a Delta Air Lines flight was departing.