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The near misses on Tuesday came after a string of aviation disasters, including the midair collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet last month that killed 67 people.
Feb. 25, 2025Updated 6:22 p.m. ET
Within the span of 90 minutes on Tuesday morning, two airplanes, at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and at Chicago’s Midway International Airport, were forced to abort landings to avoid collisions, federal aviation officials said.
American Airlines Flight 2246, arriving at National Airport from Boston was making its final descent around 8:20 a.m. when it suddenly canceled its landing, climbed toward the skies and accelerated away from the airport. The last-minute move allowed it to avoid colliding with another plane that was ready to take off from the same runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The airplane’s pilots were told to scrap the landing by an air traffic controller to “ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway,” the F.A.A. said in a statement.
Around 8:50 a.m. Central time, the pilots of Southwest Airlines Flight 2504, traveling from Omaha, canceled the plane’s landing at Chicago Midway after “a business jet entered the runway without authorization,” the F.A.A. said in a statement.
Tuesday morning’s near misses continued a spotlight put on concerns raised about the safety of the nation’s airspace following last month’s deadly midair crash outside National Airport. On Jan. 29, American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided above the Potomac River, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the Jan. 29 crash.
On Tuesday, Itai Vardi, who said he was a passenger on American Airlines 2246, was nervous about his flight into National Airport for work meetings because of the recent crash.
