Watch: Potentially Worst Air Disaster in History Narrowly Avoided at Austin Airport

Gary Ray

A closely avoided collision of two planes on a runway at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport averted what could have been the worst air disaster in history. 

The incident happened on Saturday. A video posted to Twitter depicts the incredibly close encounter between a FedEx cargo plane taking off and a Southwest Airlines jet landing.

A Wall Street Journal cited a Flightradar24 spokesperson who said the two jets, in motion were less than 1,000 feet from each other as the FedEx plane gunned its engines to move quickly out of harm’s way.

6ABC reports that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the incident as “a possible runway incursion and overflight.”

The report continued: “Shortly before the FedEx aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway.”

“Thankfully, the FedEx flight was able to discontinue its landing procedure and initiate a ‘climb-out’ from the runway, allowing the Southwest flight to depart successfully,” the 6ABC report concluded.

The Daily Caller noted that Saturday’s near miss is “the latest in a series of issues for the FAA and flights across the U.S.” 

The outlet noted that last month all domestic air travel was halted for several hours due to a “major issue” with the “Notice to Air Missions” systems.

#OTD in 2001: Japan Airlines mid-air incident: JAL 907 (B-747) and JAL 958 (DC-10) with a combined 677 aboard, narrowly avoid colliding over Yaizu (Japan). 35 injured. Near miss was due to confusion between ATC instruction and TCAS warnings, predating the 2002 Uberlingen crash. pic.twitter.com/bvKAKRlYqn

— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) January 31, 2023

Gary Ray, Resist the Mainstream, February 6, 2023