Near miss on DC airport runway spurs FAA investigation

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Thursday morning that it will investigate a near miss on the runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside Washington, D.C., in which a plane nearly crashed into the runway during takeoff. did.

Air traffic controllers directed the JetBlue flight to cross one of Southwest’s runways while it “began its takeoff roll on the same runway,” according to an emailed statement from the FAA.

The incident occurred around 7:41 a.m. local time on Thursday. According to the FAA, the near miss occurred between Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 and JetBlue Airways Flight 1554.

audio Posted on YouTube It shows an air traffic controller instructing a plane to stop. The Southwest flight was about 65 feet from the runway approach and about 300 feet from the JetBlue plane, according to a video posted by VASAViation. NBC News first reported.

This near-crash comes after a number of other flight-related accidents in the past few months that prompted the FAA to launch an investigation.

In mid-January, the FAA announced it was investigating a ground collision at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Transport authorities and police have launched an investigation into air traffic control and communications between the two planes after a fiery crash in Japan killed five people in early January.

Investigation report by new york times A paper published last August examined FAA safety reports and found an alarming pattern of safety lapses and near misses in U.S. skies and runways. Although there have been no serious crashes, the Times noted that potentially dangerous accidents are occurring more frequently than previously thought.