Austin airport close call between FedEx and Southwest: What we know

The close-call incident happened over the weekend at the Austin airport as the two planes were landing.

[anonymous-ituh]

The separation was estimated anywhere between 60 to 150 feet. The FedEx jet flew directly above the Southwest jet! FedEx was performing a go around and the Southwest was taking off!

[Vots]

Within a mile... lol It's funny how all these news stations read from the same script. I've watched multiple local news broadcasts on this incident, and they say "within a mile" which is technically correct. But you would think they would say the FedEx plane pulled up just 77ft from the Southwest flight. Probably less than 2 seconds from a huge disaster.

[ramptower]

"Within a mile" also within 10 miles and within 1000 miles, more accurately within a couple hundred feet. (no doubt the FAA fed them the "Within a Mile" quote).

[robertlong]

They came within a mile of each other?! No. They came at least within a few hundred feet of each other. Poor reporting!

[andreyv]

One fact is well known: a code brown was almost certainly guaranteed

[rogerbec]

"Fed Ex is on the go"? Is this part of the new approved Air Traffic Control phraseology? As an ex-ATC, local controller in the tower is in big trouble not to mention the supervisor standing behind him/her. Whatever happen to the three mile separation rule?

[katovomkozies]

Diversity at all costs! Truly our greatest strength!

[Bassic]

I've never understood the term near miss. It should be near collision. Near miss denotes nearly missed which is a collision.

[JohnSmith-zior]

I bet he is an ATC controller hired during the Obama era, back when they prioritized diversity over the knowledge test.

[brianwilson]

Austin airport does this kind of controlling all the time