Near Miss at Nashville Airport Involves Two Southwest Airlines Flights
Federal officials are reporting that air traffic control at a Tennessee airport managed to avert a potential mid-air collision between two Southwest Airlines flights that found themselves on a collision course.
This alarming incident took place around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday as Southwest Airlines Flight 507 was about to undertake a go-around at Nashville International Airport, as specified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
According to a statement released by the FAA, during the go-around, the aircraft was instructed by air traffic control to enter the flight path of another plane that was taking off from a nearby runway.
Both pilots from the Southwest flights informed air traffic controllers that they received an onboard alert signaling them to take evasive actions. Audio recordings released by the FAA indicate that one plane ascended while the other descended, successfully avoiding a crash.
Flight tracking data suggested that, at one moment, the two aircraft may have been as close as 500 feet apart. If verified, this distance aligns with the definition of a near miss in aviation terms.
Flight 507 managed to land safely after the incident, while the other aircraft, Southwest Airlines Flight 1152, continued its route to Knoxville, Tennessee.
A representative from Southwest Airlines mentioned that challenging winds forced the initial pilot to execute the go-around maneuver.
In a statement, the airline expressed appreciation for the pilots and crew members for their professionalism during the incident, emphasizing that nothing is more crucial than the safety of both customers and crew.
The FAA has announced plans to investigate this occurrence further.
This near miss follows a separate tragic incident at LaGuardia Airport last month, where an Air Canada aircraft collided with a rescue truck, resulting in the deaths of both pilots. During that incident, air traffic controllers mistakenly cleared both the plane and the truck to occupy the same runway.
“Stop, stop, stop,” the controller implored, as captured in tense recordings. “Truck 1, stop, stop, stop. Stop, truck 1. Stop.”
Later in the audio, the controller conceded that the situation had “failed.”
