American Airlines jet pulls out of DC landing to avoid collision
Near miss at Reagan National Airport follows string of air travel incidents
By Stephen Sorace Fox News
Published February 26, 2025 8:06am EST
An American Airlines jet aborted a landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to avoid a collision with another plane on Tuesday morning, aviation officials said.
The flight was making its final descent at 8:20 a.m. ET when the pilot saw another plane preparing to take off from the runway and made the quick decision to perform a go-around maneuver, in which the pilot pulled up and ascended toward the skies, to avoid the other aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The FAA said the maneuver was made to "ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway."
American Airlines told Fox News Digital in a statement that the flight "landed safely and normally at DCA after it was instructed by Air Traffic Control to complete a standard go-around to allow another aircraft more time for takeoff."
"American has a no-fault go-around policy as a go-around is not an abnormal flight maneuver and can occur nearly every day in the National Airspace System," the airline's statement said. "It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations, and any assertion that flight 2246’s canceled approach was more than that is inaccurate."
Within a span of 90 minutes, another flight in Chicago was forced to abort its landing to avoid a collision with a plane on the runway.
Southwest Flight 2504 from Omaha nearly touched down on the runway at Chicago Midway Airport at 9:50 a.m. ET when the pilot suddenly pointed the plane’s nose back toward the sky to fly over a smaller business Flexjet aircraft that entered its path on the runway.
The FAA said in a preliminary statement that the "business jet entered the runway without authorization." The agency, as well as the National Transportation Safety Board, said they are investigating the incident.
more
https://www.foxnews.com/us/american-airlines-jet-pulls-out-dc-landing-avoid-collision
