A Southwest Airlines plane approaches to land at San Diego International Airport as US telecommunications companies, airlines and the FAA continue to discuss the potential impact of 5G wireless services on aircraft electronics in San Diego, California, USA, on January 6, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Purchase license rights
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it will hold runway safety briefings at 90 airports over the next few weeks after a series of troubling near-air incidents.
Earlier this month, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) they said they were investigating a near collision between a Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation 560X business jet in San Diego.
The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursion events since January, including the San Diego incident.
In March, the FAA said it was taking steps to improve its air traffic control operations after near misses, telling employees: “There’s no question we’re seeing too many close calls.”
At “Runway Safety Action Team” meetings running through the end of September, the FAA said representatives from the FAA’s air traffic organization, airlines, pilots, airport vehicle drivers and others “They will come together to identify unique risks to surface security at that airport and develop plans to mitigate or eliminate those risks.”
The FAA has been no permanent administrator from April 2022. President Joe Biden’s candidate to head the Phil Washington agency retired in march and the White House has yet to choose a new nominee.
Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation since June she has served as acting administrator for the FAA in addition to her duties at USDOT.
The FAA said its preliminary review of the Aug. 11 incident showed that an air traffic controller at San Diego International Airport cleared the Cessna to land even though Southwest Airlines Flight 2493 had already been told to taxi. towards the same runway and wait for the instructions to leave.
A similar near miss incident occurred in February in Austin, Texas, when a FedEx (FDX.N) A cargo plane and a Southwest Boeing 737 approached to within 115 feet (35 meters) in poor visibility conditions. The controller had cleared the FedEx plane to land and the Southwest plane to take off.
The FAA held a safety summit and issued a safety alert in March to airlines, pilots and others citing the “need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigate safety risks.”
Reporting by David Shepardson; Edited by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.