From January, there have been six runway incursions, making the FAA to conduct a safety meeting last week.
Due to a number of high-profile near-collisions, the Federal Aviation Administration sent a safety advisory to airlines, pilots, and others on Wednesday. The advisory stressed the “need for ongoing vigilance and attention to risk mitigation.”
“Although the aggregate data do not indicate an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is worrying,” according to the FAA.
“Operators should review information gathered via their safety management procedures, identify dangers, expand and improve safety communications with staff, and implement mitigations,” according to the notice.
Near-collision between FedEx and Southwest Airlines planes
The National Transportation Safety Board is looking into several serious close calls, including a January near-collision between FedEx and Southwest Airlines planes in Austin, Texas, where the aircraft came within 100 feet of colliding, and a runway incursion at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport involving an American Airlines plane.
At Austin’s international airport, a potentially catastrophic collision was avoided when the pilot of a FedEx Boeing 767 aborted their landing to help avoid striking the departing Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 jet.
According to Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, this heroic action saved 128 lives and may have come as close as 100 feet from disaster.
“I’m very proud of the FedEx flight crew and that pilot,” said Homendy. Thanks to their quick thinking and decisive actions, what could have been an unimaginable tragedy was instead averted.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the country cannot wait for the next “catastrophic incident” before addressing the increase in aviation close encounters.
Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the NTSB, said that the board had previously made seven recommendations on runway crashes that still needed to be implemented.
“There have been far too many near calls,” Homendy remarked last week at the summit. “Recent events must serve as a wake-up call.”
Interim FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said he was launching a safety assessment committee in a “call to action” message last month.
Because of a computer malfunction, the FAA stopped all leaving passenger airline aircraft for about two hours in January, the first countrywide ground stoppage since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Since February 2009, the United States has not experienced a significant fatal passenger airplane disaster.
