Small Plane Nearly Collided With Southwest Jet

Southwest Airlines Flight 4633 broke off its landing at John Wayne Airport in Orange County on May 13 after a small plane came close enough to prompt a go-around, according to local reporting. The Southwest flight was arriving from Phoenix when the crew aborted the landing on short final, the Orange County Register reported. No injuries were reported. Federal records reviewed on May 20 did not show a standalone FAA incident statement about the event, and the National Transportation Safety Board’s public databases did not immediately surface a formal case listing. ### Which flight was involved, and where did it happen? Southwest Airlines Flight 4633 was approaching John Wayne Airport, also known as SNA, in Santa Ana, California, on May 13 when the crew discontinued the landing, according to the Orange County Register. The paper reported the flight had departed from Phoenix. John Wayne Airport’s public flight pages identify SNA as the commercial airport serving Orange County. (ocregister.com) The Orange County Register said the incident involved a small plane near the Southwest jet’s path as the Boeing 737 was about to touch down. East Bay Times, which matched the Register’s account, also described the event as an aborted landing caused by the nearby aircraft. ### What did the Southwest crew say happened? (ocregister.com) The pilot told passengers the landing was aborted because of a small plane, according to the Orange County Register’s account of the flight. The paper reported the pilot said the other aircraft was too close to continue the approach safely. That maneuver — a go-around — is a standard procedure when a crew decides conditions are not suitable for landing. (ocregister.com) A YouTube posting that summarized the event identified the aircraft as Southwest Flight 4633 and said the crew performed the go-around as a safety precaution, but that account was not an official agency statement. The core fact independently supported by local newspaper reporting is that the Southwest jet did not land on its first attempt because of the nearby small plane. ### How close were the two aircraft? (ocregister.com) Radar-based reporting, cited in the Patch item that drew attention to the case, said the aircraft passed unusually close to each other near the airport. The Orange County Register’s public summary did not include a specific separation figure in the search result available on May 20, and no FAA or NTSB release located in public federal pages reviewed by Reuters-style verification provided a confirmed distance. (youtube.com) That means the most solid public description at this stage is narrower: a small plane came close enough to a Southwest crew on final approach that the crew abandoned the landing. Without an FAA statement, controller audio transcript, or NTSB docket, a precise distance should be treated as unconfirmed in public reporting. (ocregister.com) ### Did federal investigators announce an inquiry? The Federal Aviation Administration’s public incident statements page, reviewed on May 20, did not show an entry for the John Wayne-Southwest event. The FAA says on that page that its posted information is preliminary and that, when the NTSB investigates, the NTSB provides updates. The NTSB’s public aviation search tools were available, but the search results surfaced here did not identify a matching public case entry for this event. (ocregister.com) The absence of a public posting does not by itself mean there is no review. The FAA says preliminary accident and incident information can appear through its own systems and that broader accident and incident records are available through NTSB databases. ### Why is John Wayne drawing extra scrutiny? John Wayne Airport was already under attention after another recent close-call investigation involving a United Airlines flight and a California National Guard Black Hawk helicopter on approach to the same airport. (faa.gov) The FAA said in that case that the helicopter crossed in front of the passenger jet’s flight path. Members of Orange County’s congressional delegation later asked the FAA and Transportation Department for a briefing on that earlier incident. (faa.gov) That earlier episode does not establish what happened in the Southwest case. It does explain why another near-conflict near SNA is likely to draw public and political attention once federal agencies decide whether to publish more detail. ### What should readers watch next? (accuweather.com) The next concrete marker is a public FAA or NTSB record. The FAA says preliminary reports are usually posted on the next business day for listed events, while the NTSB says it provides updates when it leads an investigation. John Wayne Airport also maintains a public flight-tracking portal that shows aircraft activity around the airport, though it is not an investigative finding. (accuweather.com) As of May 20, the verifiable public record supports this much: Southwest Flight 4633 aborted a landing at John Wayne Airport on May 13 because of a nearby small plane, no injuries were reported, and any fuller accounting is likely to come from the FAA or NTSB if either agency opens or posts a case. (ocregister.com) (faa.gov)