The National Transportation Safety Board made recommendations for new training and technology on runways during a board meeting on Thursday regarding Southwest Airlines and FedEx jets that were dangerously close to colliding in Austin, Texas, last year.
The incident from February 2023 has been under discussion and investigation for over a year now. It led to a Federal Aviation Administration “safety summit” and discussions among lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who presented a video reenactment of the incident last year. Ultimately, the FedEx jet spotted the Southwest plane at the last second and had to fly over the aircraft to avoid a crash.
Investigators determined that the probable cause of the near miss was an air traffic controller’s incorrect assumption that the Southwest plane would depart before the FedEx plane arrived on the same runway.
Contributing to the incident were the Southwest crew members who failed to consider the traffic on short final approach and neglected to inform the controller that the aircraft would require more time for takeoff. Another contributing factor, as reported by investigators, was the Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to mandate surface detection equipment at the Austin airport.
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“Commercial aviation is by far our safest mode of transportation,” stated Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. “But the somber truth is it only takes one. One missed warning, one incorrect response, even one missed opportunity to install a life-saving technology can lead to tragedy.”
