A flight arriving at Hollywood Burbank Airport this week was pressured to abort its touchdown about 1,000 toes above the runway after an air visitors controller cleared one other flight for takeoff on the identical time, the Federal Aviation Administration stated.
The aborted Mesa Airways touchdown was the newest in a string of errors involving U.S. flights and airports which have led to close misses between planes and left passengers holding their breath. However the high-profile incidents don’t essentially imply there’s a development towards extra errors occurring, in keeping with the FAA and aviation consultants, who say it’s nonetheless the most secure time to fly in historical past.
“There are loads of airports in the US and loads of day by day takeoffs and landings — on the order of 5,000. So having one or two [issues] happen in every week’s time just isn’t a big quantity compared to the full quantity,” stated Robert Ditchey, an aviation knowledgeable and former Navy pilot.
The Mesa Airways flight was 1.3 miles from Burbank airport when it was pressured to start out regaining altitude to be able to keep away from a collision with a SkyWest Airways Embraer E175 that was taking off from Runway 33 round 6:55 p.m. Wednesday, the FAA stated.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board is investigating the incident, it stated Friday.
The difficulty was possible “human error” on the a part of the air visitors controller who cleared the SkyWest flight for takeoff as one other flight was coming in to land, Ditchey stated. Nonetheless, he added, the pilot within the Mesa plane would have been the ultimate resolution maker on touchdown in a transparent path.
Aborting a touchdown whereas nonetheless 1,000 toes up is simple for pilots, Ditchey stated.
“Individuals ought to be grateful that the security system as designed and skilled on this nation labored as speculated to,” he stated. “Give credit score the place credit score is due. There was no accident. We ought to be completely happy. We’re fairly rattling good in the US in stopping accidents.”
The aborted touchdown comes only a month after a Delta flight taking off from John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in New York practically struck an American Airways flight that was crossing the runway on the identical time. The Delta airplane got here to a cease about 1,000 toes earlier than it will have struck the opposite, in keeping with the FAA.
In December, a United Airways flight heading to San Francisco from Maui practically plunged into the Pacific shortly after takeoff beneath unclear circumstances. The FAA stated there was nothing incorrect with the airplane and that the pilots obtained “further coaching” after the incident, during which the airplane plummeted from 2,200 toes to 775 toes above the water in lower than 20 seconds.
And earlier this month, a taxiing American Airways airplane struck a shuttle bus on the tarmac at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport, injuring 4 folks.
The FAA seemingly took discover of among the points on Valentine’s Day when it cited “latest occasions” as the explanation for renewed scrutiny of its security practices.
“We should make sure that our construction is match for goal for the U.S. aerospace system of each immediately and the longer term. That’s why I’m forming a security evaluation crew to look at the U.S. aerospace system’s construction, tradition, processes, techniques, and integration of security efforts,” stated FAA Appearing Administrator Billy Nolen in a memorandum to the FAA’s Administration Board.
The memo stated it will give attention to the “inside processes, techniques, and operational integration” of the Air Visitors Group, the arm of the FAA that oversees air visitors controllers, technicians and engineers.
“We all know that our aviation system is altering dramatically. Now’s the time to behave,” Nolen wrote.