NTSB offers more training and technology after near-miss of Southwest and FedEx planes in Austin

The National Transportation Safety Board gave recommendations for new runway training and technology at a board meeting Thursday over Southwest Airlines and FedEx jets that were dangerously close to colliding in Austin last year.

The February 2023 incident has been the subject of discussion and investigation for over a year now. That prompted a Federal Aviation Administration “safety summit” and discussions among lawmakers, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who showed a video reenactment of the incident last year. Eventually, the FedEx plane spotted the Southwest plane at the last second and was forced to fly over the plane to avoid a crash.

The likely cause of the near-miss, investigators determined, was an air traffic controller's erroneous assumption that the Southwest plane would take off before the FedEx plane arrived on the same runway.

Southwest crew members contributed to the incident because they failed to “consider traffic on short final approach and did not inform the controller” that the plane would need more time to take off. Another contributing factor, investigators reported, was the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to require surface detection equipment at the Austin airport.

“Commercial aviation is by far our safest mode of transportation,” said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. “But the dark truth is that it only takes one. A missed warning, an incorrect response, even a missed opportunity to install potentially life-saving technology can lead to tragedy. »

The incident was classified as the most serious level of runway incursions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

On February 4, 2023, at approximately 6:40 a.m., Southwest Flight 708, a Boeing 737-700, and FedEx Flight 143, a Boeing 767-300, were involved in the runway incursion at Austin-Austin International Airport. Bergstrom. The Southwest jet was scheduled to fly from Austin to Cancun International Airport, with 120 people on board. The FedEx jet was a domestic cargo flight to Austin from Memphis International Airport with three people on board.

At the closest point, the planes were about 150 to 170 feet apart.

However, several safety issues were identified, which officials classified into four categories: communication between pilots and controllers, airport safety equipment and cockpit technology, training on of the surface movement guidance and control system and the need for voice recorders in the cockpit 25 hours a day.

No one on board either plane was injured.

During the incident, two controllers were in the tower at the time: one working with Southwest and FedEx aircraft and the other controller working at the ground control and clearance stations.

Due to weather conditions, the air traffic controller was unable to see the Southwest plane on the taxiway. Weather briefings were given before the start of the shift and the air traffic controller was aware of low visibility conditions.

According to Dujuan Sevillian, chief of the Human Performance and Survival Factors Division at the National Transportation Safety Board, the controller expected the pilot of the Southwest plane to have already cleared the runway area. The hold short line is the marking where taxiing must stop unless the aircraft has already received clearance to enter an assigned runway. The controller told investigators last year that the Southwest planes took off as soon as they got clearance.

Sevillan attributed this to expectancy bias, whereby the controller responded in a way consistent with what he expected rather than what was happening.

According to safety officials, fog and a lack of surface detection equipment prevented the controller from monitoring the ground.

As they further evaluate the incident, officials consider the four issues identified and make recommendations on how to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Officials recommend that the Federal Aviation Administration require air traffic controllers to inform pilots by direct communication broadcast by ATC when visual contact of an aircraft taxiing on taxiways and runways cannot be established or maintained .

Surface detection equipment is imperative during these events and would have been useful in a situation like this when low visibility conditions exist.

However, Austin had not installed surface technology.

Finally, the other issue addressed was the need to have recording devices in the cockpit for 25 hours, which would prevent data from being overwritten.

In 2023, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, there were 23 Category A and B runway incursions, 16 more than in 2022. These are the most serious levels of runway incursions subject to of a survey, among five categories. In 2024, seven of these serious cases have already been reported.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, seven runway incursions have been reported at DFW Airport this year in March, none serious. At Love Field, a track incursion was reported this year, also not serious.

“To make our skies safer and preserve our aviation safety benchmark, we know we must be proactive,” Homendy said. She continued: “The absence of deaths or accidents does not mean the presence of safety. »