Alaska Airlines flight, FedEx cargo plane nearly collide at Newark airport: Radar data
An Alaska Airlines 737 and a FedEx 777 cargo plane nearly collided as they attempted to land on intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to radar data from FlightRadar24.
The incident happened around 8:17 p.m. Tuesday as the Alaska flight arrived from Portland, Oregon, and the FedEx plane arrived from Memphis, Tennessee, according to the data.
Air traffic control told the Alaska plane to go around seconds before it touched down while the plane was just 150 feet in the air, according to air traffic control audio and FlightRadar24 data. Meanwhile, the FedEx plane continued its landing on the intersecting runway.
Preliminary data from Flightradar24 shows the Alaska plane cleared the FedEx plane by just 300 to 325 feet.
The Federal Aviation Administration said, "An air traffic controller instructed Alaska Airlines Flight 294 to perform a go-around at Newark International Airport because FedEx Flight 721 was cleared for the final approach to an intersecting runway. The FAA is investigating."
FedEx released a statement, saying, "Following instructions from air traffic control, the flight crew of FedEx flight 721 landed safely without incident at Newark Liberty International Airport Tuesday."
Alaska Airlines also said in a statement, "Air traffic control issued a go around to our aircraft, which our pilots are highly trained for."
The National Transportation Safety Board said it's investigating.
