The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a Cessna business jet and a Southwest Airlines flight came dangerously close to crashing at the San Diego International Airport on Friday.
The close call happened on the runway just before noon Friday between the Cessna 560X and Southwest Airlines flight 2493, both of which were cleared for the runway by a flight controller, according to FAA.
Flight communications obtained by NBC News show the flight tower calling off the Cessna's descent because the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was on the runway awaiting to depart.
An automated surveillance system alerted the controller to the situation and the descent was called off, the FAA said. No injuries or damage were reported.
Flight tower: "Vacation 4 Victor Hotel, go around! Fly to publish missed approach."
Cessna pilot: "Alright, going around, 4 Alpha Victor."
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The FAA said in a statement it is investigating the "go-around" and said it is not yet clear how close the two planes came. That will be determined in their review.
"A preliminary review of the event showed that an air traffic controller instructed the pilot of a Cessna Citation business jet to discontinue landing because a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was still on the runway awaiting clearance to depart.
"The controller had previously cleared the Citation to land on Runway 27 and then instructed Southwest Flight 2493 to taxi onto that runway and wait for instructions to depart. The facility’s automated surface surveillance system alerted the controller about the developing situation.
"The FAA is sending a team of experts to the facility to investigate. The team will determine the closest proximity between the airplanes as part of the review."
Southwest Airlines said it is also participating in the FAA's review.
"Our aircraft departed without event and the flight operated normally, with a safe landing in San Jose as scheduled," Southwest Airlines' spokesperson Chris Mainz said in a statement.
John Cox, a pilot with decades of experience, says that's part of a layered system of protection in place for cases just like this one.
"It's very common, very, very common to clear an airplane to land on a runway, knowing that there's going to be a departure off of it," Cox said. "That's, that's as routine as it gets. There's a given cadence of pace to it. And if there is some reason that that pace is not following, then they have a choice -- you can either tell them to expedite or tell them to hold short of the runway due to landing traffic."
The incident at San Diego International is one of several this year that have drawn federal scrutiny. The incidents include a FedEx plane that nearly landed on top of a Southwest Flight in Austin, Texas after the controller gave the go-ahead, and planes clipping wings at Newark Liberty International. There was also a charter flight in Boston that took off without permission as a Jet Blue plane attempted to land.
Cox said the incidents could be attributed to a multitude of factors, including lack of staffing for air traffic controllers, communication issues and an increase in flights overall.
