The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the US has said that a mistake by an air traffic controller caused a near-collision in Texas last year.
An investigation was launched after a FedEx plane and a Southwest Airlines jet came within about 170 feet (52 m) of each other, before the FedEx Boeing 767 was forced to fly over the Southwest 737-700 to avoid a crash in poor visibility conditions.
Investigations determined that an air traffic controller had cleared both planes to use the same runway, having expected the Southwest plane – which had 123 passengers onboard – would have already departed before the FedEx plane landed, given his "expectation bias" that Southwest planes were quick to depart.
The incident – one of at least half a dozen near-miss incidents in the US last year – raised concerns about aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control.
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