SAN DIEGO — Federal authorities said Saturday they were investigating a near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation business jet Friday at San Diego International Airport.
The incident took place shortly before noon.
"A preliminary review of the event showed that an air traffic controller instructed the pilot of a Cessna Citation business jet to discontinue landing because a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was still on the runway awaiting clearance to depart," FAA Public Affairs Specialist Ian Gregor told City News Service.
The FAA said an initial investigation indicated that the controller had previously cleared the Citation to land on Runway 27 and then instructed Southwest Flight 2493 to taxi onto that runway and wait for instructions to depart. The facility's automated surface surveillance system alerted the controller about the developing situation and the controller directed the Cessna to discontinue landing, officials said.
"An alarm system did proactively go off. We won't know until they do a further examination of what exactly happened. If this triggered the controller to issue the go around, if they noticed it on their own or if the pilot question 'am I still clear to land?' also triggered a response," said Kevin Karpe, the CEO of Diverse Vector Aviation Consulting.
The initial review showed that the Cessna passed over the top of the Southwest airplane by about 100 feet, according to a Reuters report.
"For some reason there was quite a bit of delay in clearing Southwest and that's what lead to this situation," Karpe said.
Southwest said it is participating in the FAA's review of the incident.
"Our aircraft departed without event and the flight operated normally, with a safe landing in San Jose as scheduled," the airline said.
"The FAA is sending a team of experts to the facility to investigate. The team will determine the closest proximity between the airplanes as part of the review," the agency said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the incident.
"NTSB investigating Aug. 11 runway incursion and overflight at San Diego Int*l Airport that occurred when a Cessna 560X was cleared to land on Runway 27 and conflicted with a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 which was in a line up & wait on Runway 27," the NTSB tweeted Saturday. "No injuries or damage reported."
The NTSB is investigating six runway incursion events nationwide since January.
Since a safety summit was held in March, FAA officials have issued a safety alert with specific recommendations to ensure operations are conducted at the highest level of safety, including changes to procedures or training, officials said.
