FedEx plane narrowly avoids landing on Southwest flight
by: Stuart Rucker
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was a close call for passengers and pilots at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Saturday when a FedEx plane almost collided with a Southwest flight on the runway.
According to Fedex, “FedEx Express Flight 1432 from Memphis, Tenn. to Austin, Texas safely landed after encountering an event just before landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport Saturday morning. As this is an active investigation, please refer your questions to the FAA and NTSB.”
(Above video courtesy of Flightradar24.com)
Per our sister station KXAN, weather conditions made visibility difficult at the time as dense fog obscured everything that morning down to 1/8 of a mile.
The FAA issued the following statement:
A Boeing 767 cargo airplane operated by FedEx discontinued its landing Saturday at Austin Bergstrom International Airport after an air traffic controller cleared a Boeing 737 operated by Southwest Airlines to depart ahead of the FedEx airplane.
According to preliminary information, FedEx Flight 1432 was cleared to land on Runway 18-Left around 6:40 a.m. local time (Saturday, Feb. 4) while the aircraft was several miles from the airport. Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway.
The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out. The Southwest flight departed safely. The FAA is investigating the incident.
While this incident is under investigation, no one was injured. WREG will update this story with more information as it becomes available.
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