American Airlines Flight Aborts Landing to Steer Clear of Departing Aircraft at Washington National

ARLINGTON, Va.—An American Airlines aircraft arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport aborted its landing and executed a go-around at the directive of an air traffic controller to prevent proximity to another plane taking off from the same runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The incident involving American Flight 2246 from Boston occurred around 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday, less than two hours before Southwest Flight 2504 from Omaha, Nebraska, had to ascend again to avert a collision with another aircraft crossing the runway at Chicago’s Midway Airport.

Both Southwest and American Airlines released statements confirming that their flights landed safely after their crews conducted precautionary go-arounds. The situation with the Southwest flight required the pilots to act swiftly to avoid the other aircraft, whereas the incident at Reagan was considered more routine, with pilots adhering to the tower’s guidance.

Aviation specialists noted that such maneuvers are not entirely unusual in commercial aviation due to various factors, ranging from adverse weather conditions to wildlife on the runway. When a plane is at a sufficient altitude during its approach, pilots can carry out a go-around without much warning for the passengers.

“It likely happens more frequently than most people realize,” said Robert Joslin, a professor of practice at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s College of Aviation in Daytona Beach, Florida. “It’s not always due to the plane being on a collision course.”

Joslin referenced recent statistics from the Federal Aviation Administration, revealing that nearly 4 out of every 1,000 arrivals at the nation’s 30 busiest airports involved go-arounds during the fiscal year 2023, as noted in a recent FAA report. To put that in perspective, the FAA manages approximately 45,000 flights daily.

The National Transportation Safety Board released two reports on Wednesday detailing incidents last year where planes nearly collided at airports in Honolulu and Sarasota, Florida.

In Hawaii, multiple factors contributed to the close call, including an outdated airport design with several intersecting runways. This flawed layout, combined with a pilot’s misstep of not halting where required, brought the two aircraft within 1,173 feet (358 meters) of each other; however, the controller managed to guide the Cessna to exit onto a taxiway prior to it reaching the large Boeing 777 crossing the runway.

In the Sarasota episode last February, one airplane aborted its landing to go around because another that was taking off from the same runway had yet to become airborne. The NTSB attributed the incident to controller error, as the controller misjudged when the first plane would clear the runway and failed to maintain adequate oversight of the situation.

Similar to Tuesday’s situation, the go-around performed by pilots in these cases prevented the planes from coming within half a mile of each other.

Joslin noted that pilots are trained for go-around maneuvers, especially when navigating instrument approaches in low-visibility conditions requiring them to consider the possibility of a missed approach.

There are numerous reasons that might prompt a pilot to abort a landing, such as being too high or fast or misaligning with the runway. Additionally, another aircraft could be on the runway when it shouldn’t be or an air traffic controller could mistakenly allow a plane to cross it.

“Is it a pilot problem? An air traffic control issue? Weather complications? Wildlife interference? There’s a wide variety of reasons,” explained Joslin, who previously served as the FAA’s lead scientific and technical advisor for flight deck technology.

Recently, North America has witnessed four significant aviation disasters. These include the crash of a commuter plane in Alaska on February 6, which resulted in the deaths of all 10 on board, and the midair collision on January 26 between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight at National Airport, which claimed all 67 lives on both aircraft.

A medical transport jet carrying a child patient, her mother, and four others crashed on January 31 in a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing all aboard and injuring 19 others.

On February 17, 21 people were injured when a Delta flight flipped and landed upside-down at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.