Plane Aborts Landing In Near-Miss At Reagan Airport

ARLINGTON, VA — Less than a month after a collision between a helicopter and a passenger jet arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people, an American Airlines plane arriving at the same airport on Tuesday discontinued its landing to avoid hitting another aircraft on the same runway, according to sources.

Acting on an air traffic controller’s request, the American Airlines flight performed a go-around to avoid getting too close to the departing plane, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The maneuver involving American Flight 2246 from Boston occurred around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, less than two hours before another plane attempting to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport was forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway, according to the Associated Press.

The American flight “landed safely and normally” at National Airport after air traffic control instructed pilots to complete a go-around “to allow another aircraft more time for takeoff,” American Airlines said in a statement.

“American has a no-fault go-around policy as a go-around is not an abnormal flight maneuver and can occur nearly every day in the National Airspace System,” the airline said. “It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations.”

Dan Ronan of WTOP is a commercial pilot. He reported that regulations require that an entire runway must be cleared before another can land.

“So the landing was canceled, (American Flight 2246) climbed and accelerated away from DCA, avoiding another plane that was ready to take off,” Ronan said.

On Jan. 29, 67 people were killed when American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair at Reagan National Airport. Those who died in the crash included 60 plane passengers, four American Airlines crew members and the three-member Army flight crew.

Related:

• All 67 Victims Of DC Plane Crash Recovered From The Potomac
• DC Plane Crash Updates: New Details On Crash Timeline, Victims
• Who Was On Flight That Crashed Into Potomac: What We Know So Far

The Jan. 29 collision was one of four major aviation disasters that have occurred recently in North America. They include the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter plane in Alaska that killed all 10 people on board and and a Delta plane arriving at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Feb. 17 from Minneapolis. That aircraft flipped and landed on its roof, injuring at least 17 people, according to the Associated Press.

On two occasions in the past three years, passenger planes had to take evasive action to avoid helicopters while on approach to Reagan National, CNN reported. In both cases, the pilots were warned to the presence of the other aircraft by the plane’s Traffic Collision Avoidance System.

In a third incident involving two helicopters, an air traffic controller’s report said “there isn’t enough staffing to fill all positions in the tower (cabin).”

Staffing in the air traffic control tower was "not normal" at the time of the midair collision near Washington, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report obtained by the Associated Press. Details on this can be found here.

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.