Aborted airport landings add to series of US aviation incidents
So-called ‘go-arounds’ by passenger jets followed four major aviation incidents in recent weeks
Two aborted passenger jet landings in Washington DC and Chicago this week – both to avoid other aircraft on the runway – have highlighted ongoing air safety concerns in the US after an alarming series of aviation incidents in the past month.
At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an American Airlines flight from Boston aborted its landing on Tuesday morning to avoid a potential collision with another aircraft departing on the same runway.
The jet was ordered by air traffic controllers to perform a “go-around” to ensure sufficient separation between the planes, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The manoeuvre, which can be requested by a pilot or controller, repositions the plane to make another landing approach.
The American flight “landed safely and normally,” the airline said in a statement Wednesday. “A go-around is not an abnormal flight manoeuvre and can occur nearly every day in the national airspace system.”
