FAA investigates near-collision at Minneapolis airport: NPR
An American Airlines plane and a Delta plane came as close as 200 feet vertically and 850 feet horizontally during a runway incident Wednesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This 2017 photo shows a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 at the same airport.
Jeff Baenen/AP
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Jeff Baenen/AP
An American Airlines plane and a Delta plane came as close as 200 feet vertically and 850 feet horizontally during a runway incident Wednesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This 2017 photo shows a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 at the same airport.
Jeff Baenen/AP
An American Airlines flight was recently forced to abort landing because a Delta flight was still on the runway at an airport in Minnesota.
It’s the latest in a recent string of close calls at major airports that have prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to remind airlines to be vigilant.
In the latest incident Wednesday night, an air traffic controller at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport instructed American Airlines Flight 2406 to abort its landing and go around because Delta Air Lines Flight 1163, which had been cleared to land, was still on the runway, the FAA said in a statement.
After the controller told the American Airlines Boeing 737 to go around, the aircraft passed above and to the left of the Delta Airbus A220.
Based on radar estimate reported by Aviation Heraldthe two planes came within 200 feet vertically and 850 feet horizontally of each other.
The FAA says it is investigating how close the planes came to each other.
In January, a similar near-miss occurred at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City when a Delta flight came within 1,000 feet of an American Airlines flight. One incident in February, when planes came within 100 feet of each other, involved a FedEx cargo plane that had to reverse course during a landing after a Southwest Airlines flight was cleared to depart from the same runway at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas.
The following month, the FAA issued an alert to emphasize the need for continued vigilance and urged airlines to take additional steps to reduce safety risks.
The agency said in its March notice: “While the overall numbers do not reflect an increase in incidents and incidents, the potential severity of these incidents is of concern.”
In 2022, the FAA counted 1,732 runway incursions. As of 14 June, there have been 1,139 interventions so far this year.
The investigation will determine whether the latest incident is classified as an intervention.
