The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into an aborted landing at Austin in which a FedEx freighter almost collided with a Southwest Airlines plane while attempting to land.

FedEx and Southwest planes near miss

The close call occurred at around 06:40 this morning at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and could have ended in disaster were it not for the quick thinking of FedEx pilots. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 conducting Flight WN708 from Austin to Cancun had been cleared to depart Runway 18 Left moments before a FedEx Boeing 767F was due to land.

In an apparent air traffic control error, both aircraft were cleared for the same runway and the FedEx 767 attempted to land while the Southwest 737 was preparing for takeoff. As the freighter descended, it was forced to abort its landing and abruptly pull up as the Southwest 737 was in its way - data from FlightRadar24.com reveals the 767 descended to just 150ft before rapidly climbing and conducting a go-around.

The FAA said,

"Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway. The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out."

Along with an FAA investigation, the NTSB will launch a separate investigation into "a possible runway incursion and overflight involving airplanes from Southwest Airlines and FedEx." Austin-Bergstrom International Airport added that it was "aware of the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into the discontinued landing of a flight."

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FedEx flight cleared while miles away

As reported by Reuters, the FedEx freighter had been cleared for landing while still several miles away from Austin, with controllers later clearing the Southwest flight for takeoff just moments before the FedEx 767 was due to land. In fact, the Southwest aircraft continued its takeoff while the FedEx plane was above it and managed to complete its journey to Cancun with no further issues.

An audio recording of air traffic control reveals that the Southwest flight was cleared for takeoff and informed that the inbound FedEx flight was three miles out. Moments later, the FedEx pilot reconfirms his landing clearance before requesting Southwest to abort - visibility was reportedly poor during this incident with an RVR (runway visual range) of 1200ft.

The FedEx 767, which had been due to land at 06:40, eventually touched down safely in Austin ten minutes later - FedEx clarified that its flight "safely landed after encountering an event just before landing" but did not comment any further on an active investigation.

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The latest near miss

Simple Flying readers will recall the near miss at New York JFK Airport last month when an American Airlines plane entered the runway as a Delta Air Lines was taking off - on that occasion, the Delta Boeing 737, carrying over 150 passengers, managed to brake and come to a stop just 1,000ft from the American Boeing 777 and avoid a disaster.

Unlike this morning's incident, which appears to be an air traffic control error, ATC came to the rescue that day by providing Delta pilots enough warning to abort takeoff before colliding with the American Airlines aircraft.

Have you ever seen or been involved in a close call like this? Let us know your stories in the comments.

Source: Reuters, FlightRadar24.com