US aviation body investigates near collision between 737 and jet in San Diego By Reuters

2023-08-12 18:45:13

© Reuters

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the top aviation regulator in the United States, said on Saturday it was investigating a near collision between a Boeing (NYSE:) 737 of Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) ) and a Cessna Citation business jet in San Diego. The FAA said preliminary investigations showed that shortly before noon on Friday, an air traffic controller at San Diego International Airport cleared the jet to land on the same runway where Southwest Flight 2493 was taxiing and waiting. take off instructions. The airport systems alerted the controller about the possible conflict and, even so, the professional instructed the Cessna to proceed with the landing. One source said the Cessna apparently passed within 100 feet of the Southwest 737. The FAA sent a team to San Diego to investigate the incident. The airline said on Saturday that it was also participating in the review process to determine what happened. “Our aircraft took off without any problems and the flight proceeded normally, with a safe landing in San José as scheduled,” the company said. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the body responsible for investigating air incidents, is investigating six similar incidents since January. Something similar happened in February in Austin, Texas, when a FedEx cargo plane and another Southwest 737 missed a collision by just 35 meters, amid adverse visual conditions. The controller cleared FedEx landing and Southwest takeoff at the same time. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Reporting by David Shepardson)