The Federal Aviation Administration reported that an American Airlines aircraft arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport performed a go-around on the instruction of an air traffic controller to avoid being too close to another plane departing from the runway.
The maneuver involved American Flight 2246, which originated in Boston, and took place around 8:20 am on Tuesday. This was less than two hours after another plane trying to land at Chicago Midway Airport had to climb up into the air to avoid another plane crossing the runway.
Southwest Airlines said that Flight 2504 from Omaha, Nebraska, safely landed after the crew had performed a precautionary turn-around to avoid any possible collision with another aircraft that entered the runway, a spokesperson for the airline said via email. The crew followed safety procedures, and the flight landed safely.
American Airlines didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry for comment about the Washington National go-round.
Four major aviation accidents have occurred in North America over the past few weeks.
A medical transport plane with a child patient, her mother, and four other passengers aboard, crashed into a Philadelphia neighbourhood on Jan. 31. The crash killed seven people, including those on board, and injured 19 more.
21 people were injured on February 17 after a Delta Flight flipped over and landed on the roof of Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
