A FedEx plane was cleared to land while a Southwest Airlines plane was taking off
(MAINNEWS) – U.S. aviation officials have opened an investigation at the Austin, Texas, airport after two planes operated by FedEx and Southwest Airlines could have collided Saturday.
The incident occurred when air traffic controllers at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport cleared a Southwest passenger plane to take off on the same runway that a FedEx cargo plane had been cleared to land on. The FedEx plane aborted its landing and regained its altitude after the mistake was identified.
“The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The Southwest plane was able to take off without incident, and a FedEx spokesperson later confirmed to the media that their plane also safely landed following the incident.
Both the FAA and the NTSB have opened investigations into the close call.
Saturday’s incident came weeks after two other close calls at the JFK airport in New York. The first near-collision saw an American Airlines flight crossing the runway as a Delta Airlines flight was beginning its takeoff.
The second incident came on Jan. 15 when a JetBlue flight impacted another plane while taxiing on the tarmac.
JetBlue flight 1603 “came into light contact with a parked unoccupied aircraft” on Wednesday morning, the airline announced. No injuries were reported from the incident, however, and the flight was reassigned to another aircraft, JetBlue corporate communications manager Derek Dombrowski said.
By Anders Hagstrom
