Since the beginning of 2023, there have been at least eight instances of planes crashing or nearly crashing at American airports.
January 13 – A Delta plane nearly crashes nose-first into the side of an American Airlines runway at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport
The Boeing 737 he was piloting was flying over a runway at New York Airport at around 8:45 p.m. at 115 miles per hour when an air traffic controller noticed the American Airlines flight bound for the UK departing from an adjacent runway directly ahead of departing plane ABC crossed 7 reports.
Air traffic control had instructed the American Airlines flight to cross “runway 31L at Kilo” but instead crossed over runway 4 on the left at Juliet and cruised directly in front of the departing Delta flight.
The Delta pilot had to brake abruptly and traveled another 661 feet before coming to a complete stop and only 1,000 feet remained before the plane would have rammed the American Airlines Boeing 777, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a preliminary statement .
It then had to return to the gate and didn’t take off again until the following morning when the American Airlines flight arrived in the UK on time.
Jan. 18 – A JetBlue plane “bumps” into an empty parked plane at JFK Airport
According to a passenger on board the JetBlue flight, during the incident the plane was being pushed away from the gate by a pushback truck and preparing to taxi before takeoff.
During the pushback, the AirBus A320 crashed into another parked JetBlue AirBus A320.
After the incident, the plane returned to the gate and the passengers were forced to disembark. No injuries were reported. The airline said both planes had been taken out of service.
February 3 – Two United Airlines planes collide at New Jersey Airport
In a spate of near misses at US airports, two United Airlines planes crashed on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The Boeing 757 en route to Orlando, Fla. was struck by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner before the pilot announced to passengers, “Apparently our wing has been cut off.”
The collision at Newark Liberty International Airport on February 3 ripped off the tip of the wing of a plane bound for Orlando
February 4 – The FedEx plane narrowly misses colliding with a Southwest Airlines plane at Austin Airport
A FedEx cargo plane attempting to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was seconds away from disaster as the flight crew was suddenly forced to stop and abort their landing after a Southwest Airlines plane also flew to the takeoff from same runway had been cleared.
The two aircraft appeared to come within 75 feet of each other.
According to the FAA, the Boeing 767 cargo plane was several miles from the airport when it was cleared to land. But just before it was supposed to touch down, an air traffic controller also gave the green light for the Southwest Boeing 737 to take off on the exact same stretch of asphalt.
“Just before the FedEx plane was scheduled to land, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
“The pilot of the FedEx plane aborted the landing and initiated a climb.”
The FedEx Boeing 767 (in orange) had been cleared to land, while a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 (in yellow) had also been cleared to depart from the same runway
At times, the two planes appeared to be just 75 feet apart, according to FlightRadar24
Feb. 27 – JetBlue pilot is forced into “evasive maneuvers” after a plane crossed the runway as it prepared to land in Boston
A JetBlue pilot had to “evade” while landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport when another plane crossed an intersecting runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
According to the FAA’s preliminary review, a close decision came at 7 p.m. when the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while a JetBlue flight prepared to land on an intersecting runway.
The FAA is investigating how close the two planes got, but flight data tracking service Flightradar24 said Tuesday that a preliminary analysis showed the planes were about 530 feet (160 meters) apart.
An air traffic controller instructed the Learjet’s pilot to line up and wait on one runway while the JetBlue flight landed on another, the FAA said in a statement.
“The Learjet pilot read the instructions clearly, but instead began a takeoff roll,” the FAA said. “The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated an exit as the Learjet proceeded through the intersection.”
March 6 – The wings of two United Airlines planes collide on the runway at Boston Logan Airport
Two United Airlines planes were involved in a slow speed collision at Boston Logan International Airport.
It happened when an airliner was pushed backwards out of its bay and its right wing struck the tailplane of a neighboring aircraft.
The incident happened just before 9 a.m. and required United Airlines to deplane all passengers so the two flights with other planes could be rescheduled.
“While being pushed back from his gate at Boston Logan today, the wing of one United aircraft made contact with the wing of another United aircraft parked at the adjacent gate,” United Airlines said in a statement.
An airliner was being pushed backwards out of its cargo hold when its right wing collided with the tailplane of a neighboring aircraft. In the picture, the two planes can be seen in contact
March 18 – The Southwest flight narrowly misses colliding with a helicopter on the Hollywood Burbank Airport runway
A plane nearly collided with a helicopter at a Southern California airport just days after the Federal Aviation Administration held a summit on mounting safety concerns.
FAA officials said a Southwest plane was approaching a runway at Hollywood Burbank Airport around 9:50 a.m. when an air traffic controller noticed a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter on the same runway.
According to an FAA statement, the helicopter had been practicing touch-and-go landings. After noticing the problem, the air traffic controller told the Boeing 737 to turn around.
No one was injured and the matter is currently under investigation by the FAA.
The Boeing 737 was Southwest flight N551WN from Phoenix that was forced to turn around and attempt another landing after the near miss ended the first attempt to land.
June 16 – A United plane collides with a Delta plane on the tarmac at Boston’s Logan Airport
Passengers aboard a Delta flight filmed the moment a United Airlines plane collided with their plane on the tarmac at Boston’s Logan Airport – forcing all passengers to exit and rebook their tickets.
The two vehicles collided Friday afternoon as the parked Delta plane awaited departure for Detroit.
Video posted online showed the United plane slowly reversing into the Delta plane, with an airline spokesman confirming to WCVB that its winglet grazed the tail of the other plane.
“United aircraft customers disembarked normally at the gate and we will transfer them to other flights,” the United spokesman said, noting that there were 128 passengers on board the flight to Newark, New Jersey.
Passengers aboard the Delta flight were also rebooked on another flight that arrived an hour later, and the airline apologized for the inconvenience by ordering pizzas for customers, a passenger wrote online.