FAA investigates "Go-Around" incident involving Cessna and Southwest flight.


Key Points:

  • A Cessna Citation business jet was instructed to abandon its landing due to another plane, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737, still on the runway.

  • The incident, termed a “go-around”, arose after an air traffic controller's dual instruction to both the Citation for landing and the Southwest flight to taxi.

  • An FAA expert team is being dispatched to San Diego to investigate the incident and assess the nearest distance between the two planes during the event.

WASHINGTON D.C. — In a concerning incident at the San Diego International Airport, an air traffic controller instructed a Cessna Citation business jet to halt its landing procedure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported to FOX 5 that the directive was issued to avoid a potential collision with a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737, which remained on the landing strip awaiting departure authorization.

“Go-arounds” are procedures initiated when either a pilot or an air traffic controller is not wholly convinced of the safe conditions for landing. In this particular situation, the FAA's preliminary evaluation reveals that the air traffic controller had initially granted landing permission to the Cessna Citation on Runway 27. Simultaneously, the same controller directed Southwest Flight 2493 to taxi onto the same runway and standby for takeoff instructions. The facility's automated surface surveillance system promptly alerted the controller of the imminent danger, leading to the "go-around" call for the Citation.

In response to the incident, the FAA is deploying a specialist team to the San Diego International Airport to further examine the event. One of their primary tasks will be to pinpoint the nearest distance between the two aircraft during the ordeal. The agency, reaffirming its commitment to operational safety, recently conducted an industry-wide Safety Summit on March 15. Subsequent to this summit, the FAA has put into place measures ensuring the highest standards of safety in air operations. The FAA firmly believes, “One close call is one too many.”