The report suggests, initially, the distance between the two planes was anticipated to be three miles.
Acatastrophic incident was nearly averted at the Texas airport on February 4. A FedEx cargo almost collided with a Southwest passenger flight due to a miscommunication reportedly caused by aviation traffic control. According to a flight date interpreted by FlightRadar24, the planes were about 100 feet (approximately 304 miles) apart from each other. It is reported that the cargo plane was made to abort its landing when the Southwest passenger flight was also cleared to depart on the same runway.
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The FedEx jet, a Boeing 767 cargo plane, was reportedly cleared to land at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at local time 6.40 on early Saturday by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report suggests at the time when the passenger flight was cleared for departure from the same runway, the distance between the two planes was anticipated to be three miles. The simulation video of the near-collision and how the fast-approaching cargo plane made a sharp turn away from the runway while passing directly over the commercial flight was shared online. Take a look at the video here:
The simulation video has left multiple users in a state of frenzy. A user wrote, “I feel sick looking at this. So many lives were almost lost due to a simple error. The FedEx pilots definitely need a raise after this one.”
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Another user asked, “Why were they cleared to land, while other traffic was on the runway. Pretty common in the US. I don’t get it.”
One more joined, “I am sitting quite clenched just watching this. Geeze.”
Meanwhile, a user highlighted, “That’s a very serious airfield traffic control lapse. Great, it didn’t end up being catastrophic.”
The video has amassed over three million views on the micro-blogging site. The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in a statement, explained they are “investigating a surface event at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturday, a possible runway incursion and overflight involving aeroplanes from Southwest Airlines and FedEx.” The commercial flight reportedly continued its departure safely and landed in Cancun within 2 hours. Meanwhile, the FedEx cargo circled the airfield after making the sharp turn and landed safely 12 minutes later.
