The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a safety alert to airlines and pilots after a series of near-miss incidents. The new Safety Alert For Operators (SAFO) is titled Aviation Safety Call to Action.

Aviation Safety Call to Action

According to the FAA, six serious runway incursions have occurred at United States airports since January. The two most notable occurrences were at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City and Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). At JFK, a departing aircraft almost collided with a taxiing aircraft, and in Austin, a landing aircraft came within 100 feet of a departing aircraft.

In February, the agency issued a Call to Action "to ensure focus and attention on risks to the aviation system." As a result, the FAA held a safety summit last week with senior FAA officials, government leaders, those in general and commercial aviation, and others. At the meeting, the discussion focused on safety management constantly adapting to a high rate of change. Last week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the US could not afford to wait until the next catastrophic event before taking action.

A successful flight is a team effort.
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In today's SAFO, the FAA noted that recent events exposed several areas requiring focus. A list of items to review was published at the end of the SAFO, including things like reviewing information about runway safety and ensuring all crew understand what a sterile flight deck means.

Today, on Twitter, the FAA reinforced its commitment to safety,

Near miss at JFK

On January 13, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 almost collided with an American Airlines Boeing 777 on takeoff. The Delta aircraft had been given takeoff clearance, and the AA 777 was taxiing and crossed the active runway, leading air traffic controllers (ATC) to order the Delta flight to abort its takeoff. Recordings of communication between ATC and the 777 pilots reveal that they had yet to be given clearance to cross the active runway and were holding short of runway 31L when they were due to take off from 4L.

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According to Brian Healy, a passenger on Delta flight 1943 from JFK to Santo Domingo, the entire incident took no more than five seconds from the pilots throttling the engines for takeoff to activating the breaks. Passengers were suddenly thrown forward because of the brakes and were shocked until the pilot announced a few minutes later that they had been ordered to abort the takeoff. According to Healy, it took more than an hour to return to the gate and fifteen hours before the flight finally departed.