What FAA Safety Alert After Runway Close Calls Could Mean In FL

FLORIDA — The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday called on the nation’s airport operators, pilots and safety personnel, including those at Florida regional airports, to do a better job of keeping passengers safe from near-misses on runways.

The FAA safety alert comes in response to a string of high-profile near misses on runways. The agency said that while its data does “not reflect an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning.”

Incidents this year at a half dozen airports — including a close call at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport — brought attention to the problem, but what the FAA calls “runway incursions” have become a more common problem, according to the agency. That’s when aircraft, vehicles, people are in takeoff and landing areas, but shouldn’t be.

There were about 1,732 such incidents in 2022, and 699 so far this year, according to the FAA.

“The vast majority of runway incursions are not serious occurrences,” the FAA said in the alert, but reducing them is one of its highest safety priorities that is a “shared responsibility that encompasses pilots, air traffic controllers and airport vehicle drivers.”

A close call Feb. 16 between Air Canada and American Airline flights at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Air Canada Rouge A-321 was cleared for takeoff from Runway 14 at the same time an American Airlines B-737 was cleared to land on the same runway, the agency tweeted.

“The American Airlines crew self-initiated a go-around,” avoiding the near crash between the planes, according to the NTSB.

At their closest point, the planes were just .6 miles apart or nearly 3,200 feet, the report said.

There were no injuries or damage reported.

• Related: Planes In Near Miss Cleared For Same Runway At Sarasota Airport: NTSB

Other incidents around the country are:

• A minor collision on a runway that followed a close call at Boston Logan in the same week in early March
• A near collision between a helicopter and Southwest Airlines plane at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California just days after the FAA safety summit
• A near collision between American Eagle and United Airlines flights at Reagan National Airport in mid-March
• A United Airlines plane that plunged into the Pacific after taking off in Maui in mid-February
• A close call in Austin between FedEx cargo and Southwest Airlines passenger planes in Austin in February

Conveying urgency, the FAA called on airline operators and others to immediately assess their safety protocols and make changes.

“Safety management systems, policies and procedures must be able to account for a high rate of change,” according to the alert, which includes a checklist of actions that should be taken to improve airline safety.

Among those the FAA called to action are directors of operations, chief pilots, directors of training, check airmen, directors of safety, program managers, pilots and operators to implement changes.

Last week, the FAA held a safety summit with airlines, airport operators and workers to discuss the tumultuous state of the industry. There are about 45,000 planes in U.S. airspace on any given day.

“I think I speak for all of us, and certainly the traveling public, when I say these events are concerning,” FAA acting administrator Billy Nolen said in opening remarks. “They are not what we have come to expect during a time of unprecedented safety in the U.S. air transportation system.”