Five near-misses bring on recommended changes from NTSB
Following the investigation of five incidents in which commercial jetliners came within hazardous proximity of other aircraft while arriving or departing at major U.S. airports, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) modify the rules for air traffic controllers to ensure the safe separation of airplanes during go-around maneuvers.
A go-around – an aborted landing attempt by an airplane on final approach – can be initiated at the direction of ATC or by the flight crew upon a determination that circumstances are unfavorable for a safe landing.
The safety hazard identified in the five incidents all occurred when an airplane that was on approach to the airport aborted the landing attempt and initiated a go-around maneuver, which put the go-around airplane on a flightpath that intersected with that of another airplane that was either departing or arriving on another runway of the same airport.
Although current FAA procedures have specific requirements for ensuring the separation between two airplanes that are departing from different runways but that have intersecting flightpaths, they do not prohibit controllers from clearing an airplane to land at a time when it would create a potential collision hazard with another aircraft if the pilots of the landing airplane perform a go-around.