Planes Dodge Mid-Air Collision at JFK
- Two planes took evasive action to avoid crashing near JFK Airport in New York. - Aircraft were just a half-mile apart and within 350 feet of the same altitude. - The close call highlights ongoing air traffic safety challenges at the busy hub. (patch.com)
Two passenger jets aborted their landings at John F. Kennedy International Airport on April 21 after one strayed into the other’s approach path. (abc7ny.com) The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident happened around 2:35 p.m. as Republic Airways Flight 4464, operating for American Airlines, and Jazz Aviation Flight 554, operating for Air Canada Express, approached parallel runways at JFK. (people.com) Flight-tracking data reviewed by multiple outlets showed the aircraft were about a half-mile apart and within roughly 350 feet of the same altitude at their closest point. (pix11.com) The Federal Aviation Administration defines a near midair collision as an event involving less than 500 feet of separation or a pilot report that a collision hazard existed. By that measure, the JFK encounter fits the agency’s threshold for a serious close call. (faa.gov) The two jets were lining up for parallel runways, a routine setup at JFK that depends on each aircraft staying inside a tightly managed approach lane. When one plane drifts across that invisible corridor, controllers and onboard warning systems have seconds to react. (abc7news.com) Republic said its pilots followed the cockpit warning and executed a go-around, the standard maneuver in which a crew stops the landing and climbs away for another attempt. The airline said the flight later landed without further incident. (wsvn.com) The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into why the Republic jet deviated from its intended approach path near one of the country’s busiest airports. Reuters reported the agency described the event as a close call between two passenger jets at JFK. (usnews.com) The JFK incident landed in the middle of a string of recent U.S. aviation close calls, including a near-miss involving two Southwest Airlines planes near Nashville days earlier. ABC7 New York reported four commercial flights narrowly avoided collisions within 48 hours, with the JFK event among them. (nbcnews.com) (abc7ny.com) For now, the case turns on a familiar aviation safeguard: when alarms sound on final approach, pilots are trained to stop the landing first and sort out the cause later. At JFK on April 21, that procedure kept two regional jets from trying to use the same patch of sky. (faa.gov)
