NYC Airports Told To Improve Safety As Near Misses Mount Nationwide

QUEENS — Ships can pass in the night, but on a John F. Kennedy runway, planes really shouldn't.

Queens' international airport is among those called on by the Federal Aviation Administration this week to improve safety measures after a string of high-profile near misses on runways.

The FAA said that while its data does “not reflect an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning.”

Among worrying cases cited in the alert is a close call at JFK, when an American Airlines plane crossed the runway, narrowly avoiding a Delta Air Lines prepared for takeoff.

The American Airlines pilots will comply with a subpoena to testify before the National Transportation Safety Board, according to CNN.

Incidents this year at a half dozen airports 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.”

The alert comes two months after the FAA grounded flights across the country due to issues with the Notice to Air Missions system, which caused the U.S. Travel Association to call on the federal government to overhaul air travel infrastructure.

In their alert this month, 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.”