The Fedex pilot was concerned about the Southwest plane taking off below him, but was told to CONTINUE descent

The captain of a FedEx cargo plane that had been cleared to land at Austin-Bergstrom airport last month was concerned about the presence of a Southwest plane on the runway below.

The Boeing 767 cargo plane was several miles from the airport when it was cleared to land, according to the FAA, but just before landing, an air traffic controller also gave the go-ahead for the Southwest Boeing 737 to take off. the exact same stretch of asphalt.

According to federal investigators, the pilot requested and received confirmation that he was ready to land. But as the FedEx plane made its way through foggy conditions onto the runway, the flight’s first officer decided not to attempt to complete the landing because of how close the Southwest fight was.

‘Southwest aborted,’ the FedEx team transmitted, according to the federal report. ‘FedEx is on the move.’

The two planes appeared to be within 75 vertical feet of each other, although the NTSB is continuing to investigate the minimum distance that occurred between the planes.

Near miss graphs show how close to the runway the FedEx plane and the Southwest passenger flight collided.

The FedEx plane came to a sudden stop and managed to climb several hundred feet in seconds while the crew avoided catastrophe.

The FedEx plane took to the skies again, moving away from the Southwest flight with 128 passengers, which was continuing its takeoff to Cancun. The FedEx plane landed safely shortly thereafter.

The incident is one of a growing handful of recent close calls at airports that the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

The most recent incident occurred Monday, when a JetBlue pilot had to dodge a Learjet crossing the runway as the first plane was about to land.

So far, the incidents have caused no injuries, but nearby cases have drawn attention on Capitol Hill and prompted the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a memo in February guiding the industry toward a renewed focus on safety. , according to him Washington Post.

The NTSB report does not indicate what may have caused the close call at the Austin track, but did mention that there was limited visibility due to fog. However, traffic at the airport was limited at the time.

In an initial tweet on Saturday, the National Transportation Safety Board used jargon to downplay the incident, describing it as a “possible runway incursion and flyover by Southwest Airlines and FedEx aircraft.”

The incident occurred in poor visibility conditions early Saturday morning in Austin.

The FAA said FedEx Express Flight 1432, a Boeing 767 cargo plane, which had departed from Memphis, was cleared to land on runway 18 left at about 6:40 a.m. while the plane was several miles from airport.

The Southwest plane had not yet departed when the FedEx plane approached the runway.

Southwest has so far declined to comment. FedEx said its flight “landed safely after encountering an event” but declined to comment further due to ongoing investigations.

“FedEx Express Flight 1432 from Memphis, Tennessee to Austin, Texas, landed safely after encountering an event just prior to landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport this morning,” FedEx said in a statement.

The Austin airport said it was “aware of the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into a flight crash landing.” We will assist our partners at the FAA and their investigation as needed.”

In addition to the JetBlue and FedEx incidents, another close call was averted at John F. Kennedy International Airport last month after an American Airlines plane crossed a runway as a Delta Airlines Boeing 737 plane was preparing to take off on January 13.

Air traffic controllers noticed that a Boeing 777 had crossed from an adjacent taxiway.

The FAA said the Delta Boeing 737 stopped its takeoff run about 1,000 feet before reaching the point where it had crossed over from American Airlines Flight 106.

The FedEx cargo plane was landing at Austin Bergstrom Airport when it was forced to stop

At one point, only 75 feet appeared to separate the two planes according to FlightRadar24.

The FedEx plane took to the skies again, moving away from the Southwest flight with 128 passengers, which was continuing its takeoff to Cancun.

Data from flight tracking websites suggests the two planes came very close. In the image, the route of the FedEx cargo plane that had to abort the landing and then circle the airport.

Jennifer Homendy, president of the National Transportation Safety Board, said two planes came within 100 feet of each other during a crash in Austin on Saturday.

After the initial near miss, Jennifer Homendy, president of the National Transportation Safety Board, explained how close the planes were to the catastrophe and said investigators are looking into how the incident could have happened.

The Boeing 767 was approaching the runway in poor visibility while a Southwest Boeing 737 was cleared for takeoff.

homendy said political: ‘We are actually investigating the communications between [air traffic control]Southwest, FedEx, especially in connection with weather issues.’

She said it was “pretty clear the plane got very close and we think it’s less than 100 feet.”