Near Midair Collision Avoided At JFK
- Two commercial planes took evasive action to avoid a potential mid-air collision near JFK Airport. - Aircraft flew about a half-mile apart and within 350 feet of the same altitude, officials said. - The incident prompted an FAA and airline probe into separation procedures and air traffic control communications (patch.com).
Two passenger jets aborted their landings at John F. Kennedy International Airport this week after one drifted into the other’s approach path on final. (reuters.com) The Federal Aviation Administration said Republic Airways Flight 4464, operating for American Airlines, performed a go-around after missing its intended approach and flying too close to Jazz Aviation Flight 554, which was cleared to land on a parallel runway. The incident happened around 2:35 p.m. on Monday, April 20. (reuters.com) Both crews responded to onboard collision alerts before circling and landing safely, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and local reporting. Flight-tracking data reviewed by multiple outlets showed the aircraft were about 0.62 miles apart horizontally and 350 feet apart vertically. (faa.gov, newsday.com, abc7ny.com) A go-around is an aborted landing: pilots add power, climb away from the runway, and try again instead of forcing an unstable approach. The other warning came from the Traffic Collision Avoidance System, an onboard backup that tells pilots when to climb or descend if another aircraft gets too close. (faa.gov, visaverge.com) JFK uses closely spaced parallel runways, which let controllers land more planes in less time but leave less room for error if an aircraft strays off course. In this case, the Federal Aviation Administration said the Republic Airways jet had been lined up for Runway 31 Left while the Jazz Aviation plane was approaching Runway 31 Right. (cnn.com, reuters.com) The episode landed during a stretch of intense scrutiny for New York-area aviation. ABC7 reported four commercial flights had narrowly avoided collisions within 48 hours, and the JFK incident came about a month after a fatal March 22 crash involving an Air Canada Express flight landing at LaGuardia Airport. (abc7ny.com, aircanada.com) The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into the JFK close call, and the agency said its account is preliminary. American Airlines had not posted a public statement about Flight 4464 on its newsroom as of April 23, while Air Canada’s public channels focused on flight-status information rather than a separate incident release. (reuters.com), (news.aa.com), (aircanada.com) For passengers, the visible part of this story was two jets pulling up at the last moment. The part investigators now have to sort out is narrower and more technical: why one aircraft missed its approach path, what controllers said, and whether the layers meant to keep parallel arrivals separated worked as designed. (reuters.com), (patch.com)
