Near Miss at Kentucky Airport Raises Concerns
At the Kentucky airport where a tragic cargo plane accident resulted in the loss of 14 lives, a significant near miss incident recently unfolded. An air traffic controller was heard urgently questioning a UPS aircraft’s actions after it nearly collided with another plane.
It happened shortly after midnight on Tuesday at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, when a Boeing 767 arriving from Atlanta was compelled to abort its landing approach due to a smaller SKQ-25 still occupying the runway. Audio recordings shared by LiveATC reveal the ensuing chaos and confusion in the control tower.
The air traffic controller, using the call sign “Skylab 2 5,” instructed the UPS plane to turn around. “What are you doing?” was the immediate, panicked question directed at the pilot before further instructions were given to cross the runway.
Following the incident, the controller expressed remorse to the UPS crew, saying, “I’m sorry.” Flight tracking data indicated just how narrowly the UPS plane avoided a potentially disastrous encounter with the other aircraft.
Michelle Polk, a representative for UPS, remarked that the go-around procedure was executed “excellently.” For those unfamiliar, a go-around refers to when an aircraft, while descending, decides to discontinue its landing approach and circles back for another attempt.
Polk couldn’t confirm the precise details of how close the incident was to a real disaster. However, an FAA spokesperson assured that the necessary separation between the two planes was adhered to.
Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport is known for being a critical hub for UPS, named Worldport, which manages an astonishing 2 million packages each day. Notably, it can also process up to 416,000 items an hour. This hub employs about 20,000 people, making UPS the area’s largest employer.
The near miss occurred just five months after a catastrophic event where a cargo plane filled with fuel crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in a fire and the deaths of three UPS crew members and 11 others. The pilots from that flight were Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt, and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond, aged 57, 45, and 62, respectively.
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the left engine had separated from the plane when it was merely 30 feet off the ground. Initially, it was reported that 14 people had died, but the toll rose when Alan Rodriguez Colina, who was severely injured, succumbed on Christmas Day, seven weeks later.
