The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating a near collision between two commercial airplanes at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
The incident occurred on May 6th when an air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance of an American Eagle flight because a United Airlines aircraft was taxiing on the same runway.
Federal safety officials are probing an incident at New York’s LaGuardia airport earlier this month, during which a Republic Airways jet had to abort takeoff to avoid a collision with a United plane taxiing on the same runway https://t.co/G5570auVmx
— Bloomberg (@business) May 19, 2025
Per CNN:
The United flight, operating on a Boeing 737-800, arrived that evening from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and was carrying 107 passengers and six crew members, the airline said Monday.
The FAA also said Monday it is investigating another radio outage at the air traffic approach control facility responsible for flights approaching and departing nearby Newark Liberty International Airport.
The close call and the outage, the latest in a series of failures that have occurred in recent weeks, come just before the summer travel season.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Newark terminal radar approach control facility, also known as Philadelphia TRACON Area C, experienced a radio outage for approximately two seconds around 11:35 a.m. Monday, the FAA said.
The issues at Philadelphia TRACON Area C have stretched beyond the New Jersey airport and unveiled a serious problem within the FAA’s antiquated air traffic control system.
Passenger jet forced to abort takeoff with seconds to spare in new close call at LaGuardia Airport https://t.co/N2FDpGgCbh
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 19, 2025
Passenger jet had to abort takeoff to avoid runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport https://t.co/sIx4Xy5aQO pic.twitter.com/LRsfWX16rw
— The Independent (@Independent) May 19, 2025
From The Independent:
In audio from the tower that ABC obtained from the website www.LiveATC.net, the air traffic control said to the pilot of the Republic Airways jet: “Sorry, I thought United had cleared well before that.”
At the time that controller was directing the Republic Airways jet to takeoff, a ground controller on a different radio frequency was directing the United plane to a new taxiway after it missed the first one it was supposed to use to exit the runway.
Neither airline involved responded to questions about the incident and the airport deferred all questions to the FAA.
The number of close calls in recent years has created serious concerns for the FAA, NTSB and other safety experts. The NTSB’s investigation of a February 2023 close call in Austin highlighted the concerns, but there have been a number of other high-profile near misses. In one case, a Southwest Airlines jet coming in for a landing in Chicago narrowly avoided smashing into a business jet crossing the runway.
LaGuardia is one of just 35 airports across the country equipped with the FAA’s best technology to prevent such runway incursions. The ASDS-X system uses a variety of technology to help controllers track planes and vehicles on the ground. At the other 490 U.S. airports with a control tower, air traffic controllers have to rely on more low-tech tools like a pair of binoculars to keep track of aircraft on the ground because the systems are expensive.
Expanding the systems to more airports is something Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would like to do if Congress signs off on his multi-billion-dollar plan to overhaul the nation’s aging air traffic control system.
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