Near miss at San Diego airport, US investigates spate of incidents

SAN DIEGO, California: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board have begun an investigation into a near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation 560X business jet in San Diego.

The incident is the latest in a series of near misses in the US.

An air traffic controller at San Diego International Airport cleared the Cessna to land on a runway, even though Southwest Airlines Flight 2493 had already been told to taxi onto the same runway and await instructions to depart, according to the FAA’s preliminary review, released last week.

The controller was altered by the airport’s automated surface surveillance system about the dangerous situation, and the Cessna was directed to discontinue landing.

The Cessna passed over the top of the Southwest airplane by some 100 feet, according to the initial review.

“Our aircraft departed without event and the flight operated normally, with a safe landing in San Jose as scheduled,” Southwest said, noting it is participating in the FAA’s review.

Including last week’s San Diego incident, the US is currently investigating seven runway incursions since January.

In March, regulators said they were working to improve its air traffic control operations after a number of near-miss incidents. “There is no question that we are seeing too many close calls,” it said at the time.

Regulators also held a safety summit and issued a separate safety alert in March to airlines, pilots and others, stressing the “need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks.”