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Newly-released audio details how a Southwest pilot remained on the runway at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas Saturday morning — despite being warned that a FedEx flight was approaching.
Air Traffic Control audio revealed that the crew onboard a Southwest flight headed to Cancun, Mexico, were aware that the cargo plane was approaching the runway when they got the OK to depart.
But the crew stayed grounded as the Boeing 767 cargo plane approached the runway, forcing it to make a go-around.
The crew on board the cargo plane could be heard trying to get the Southwest flight to ‘abort’ its takeoff – which they refused to do – and it instead took off just 75 vertical feet from the oncoming cargo flight.
Fortunately, the crew reacted quickly and aborted their landing just in time to avoid what could have been a fatal crash.
A FedEx cargo plane nearly crashed into a departing Southwest flight early Saturday morning at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas
The near-crash came just one month after a similar close call was averted at John F. Kennedy International Airport last month in which an American Airlines plane crossed a runway while a Delta Airlines’ Boeing 737 plane was preparing for takeoff.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are now investigating both incidents.
Air traffic control recordings released Saturday night shows that at around 6.47am, the tower at the Austin airport cleared Southwest for takeoff — noting that the FedEx plane is just three miles behind them and was approaching the 18 Left runway.
‘Copy the traffic,’ the pilot responds, apparently aware that the FedEx flight was on its way.
Soon, the FedEx pilot could be heard asking if he is confirmed to land on runway 18 Left, which an air traffic controller tells him he is.
But the Southwest flight remains on the runway as the FedEx flight is quickly approaching, leading one air traffic controllers to ask the Southwest crew if it was planning to depart.
‘Rolling now,’ the pilot responds, affirming that it was about to takeoff.
At that point, Travel Weekly reports, the FedEx crew initiated a go-around and told the Southwest crew they should abort their takeoff.
‘Southwest abort,’ a male voice, presumably the FedEx pilot, could be heard telling the crew: ‘FedEx is on the go.’
Air traffic control seems to agree with the FedEx crew’s assessment, telling it to veer right when it has the chance,
But the Southwest crew just replies ‘negative’ to the call to abort its takeoff, and begins climbing into the air, even while the FedEx cargo plane was directly above it — leaving just 75 feet between the two planes.
Fortunately, the FedEx pilot aborted its landing just in time and began to pull up to avoid a collision.
Then, once the runway was clear, the Boeing 767 cargo plane completed its go-around and landed shortly after without incident, Travel Weekly reports.
Afterward, the Austin-American Statesman reports, air traffic controllers apologized to the pilot and thanked him for his professionalism.
Authorities say the incident occurred in poor visibility conditions.
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It remains unclear how many people were on board the Southwest flight at the time, but Boeing 737’s could hold a maximum of nearly 200 people.
Air traffic control recordings released Saturday night shows that at around 6.47am, the tower cleared Southwest for takeoff — noting that the FedEx plane is just three miles behind them and was approaching the 18 Left runway
The Southwest Airlines Boeing 737, in yellow, had remained on the runway as the FedEx Boeing 767, in orange, had been cleared to land
The altitude of the FedEx plane shows it descending before a sudden and sharp gain in altitude
The FedEx cargo plane was coming into land at Austin Bergstrom Airport when it was forced to pull up (stock image)
The FAA has previously said that the FedEx Express Flight 1432, a Boeing 767 cargo plane, was cleared to land on Runway 18-Left around 6:40am while the aircraft was several miles from the airport.
The Southwest plane had not yet departed when the FedEx plane was approaching the runway.
‘Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway,’ the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
‘The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out.’
The Southwest jet was able to depart safely, according to the FAA.
The National Transportation Safety Board, meanwhile, used jargon to downplay the incident describing it as a ‘possible runway incursion and overflight involving airplanes from Southwest Airlines and FedEx.’
Data from flight tracking websites suggest the two planes came very close indeed. Pictured, the FedEx cargo plane’s route which saw it having to abort landing and then circle the airport
Southwest has so far declined to comment. FedEx said its flight ‘safely landed after encountering an event,’ but declined to further comment because of the ongoing investigations.
The FAA and NTSB said they are investigating the serious incident.
‘FedEx Express Flight 1432 from Memphis, Tennessee to Austin, Texas safely landed after encountering an event just before landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport this morning,’ FedEx said in a statement,
Austin Airport said it was ‘aware of the Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into the discontinued landing of a flight. We will assist our FAA partners and their investigation as necessary.’
The FAA and NTSB are also investigating a similar incident last month at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
On January 13, a Delta flight was traveling 115mph down a runway at around 8.45pm when an air traffic controller noticed that an American Airlines flight to the UK crossed from an adjacent runway right in front of the departing plane,
Air Traffic Control had told the American Airlines flight to cross ‘runway 31L at Kilo’ but instead crossed runway 4 Left at Juliet, crossing directly in front of the departing Delta flight.
The Delta pilot was then forced to abruptly brake, traveling another 661 feet before he came to a complete stop with just 1,000 feet to spare before the plane would have T-boned the American Airlines Boeing 777, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a preliminary statement.
It was then forced to return to the gate, and did not takeoff again until the next morning, while the American Airlines flight arrived in the UK on time.
