The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a near miss at Reagan Washington National Airport after two commercial jets almost collided on a runway on May 29, the second incident of its kind at the airport in just two months.
A King Air flight was cleared to land as American Airlines flight 2134 was taking off from the same runway at around 10:20 a.m.
Air traffic control immediately called off the American Airlines flight, preventing a collision between the jets.
“An air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for American Airlines Flight 2134 because another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,” an FAA spokesperson told The Epoch Times on May 30.
Flight tracking replays show the American flight beginning its takeoff sequence as the King Air flight approached the same runway for a landing. The American Airlines pilot stopped halfway down the runway, narrowly avoiding the King Air jet as it was descending onto the tarmac.
This is the second near collision at Reagan National since April 18, when an air traffic controller cleared a JetBlue flight for takeoff on the same runway that another air traffic controller had opened for a Southwest Airlines flight.
When Senate and House leaders negotiated and passed the five-year FAA reauthorization bill in April, a provision adding five additional daily flights to Reagan National was included.
That triggered pushback from Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine (D) and Mark Warner (D), who tried to block fast-tracking the bill without considering an amendment to strip the provision adding flights to the busy D.C. airport.
In a post on the social platform X, Mr. Kaine said he was “relieved” no one was hurt during the incident on May 29 but added that it illustrates the dangers of expanding the airport’s flight capacity.
“I’m relieved no one was hurt. But this incident underscores again that DCA is at capacity,” he said.
“This shows why Senate action to jam even more flights into DCA was so dangerous. The FAA must resist any new flights that compromise safety.”
The May 29 incident also prompted a response from Mr. Warner, who accused his Senate colleagues of putting “politics over safety” when approving more flights at the busy airport.
“This is exactly why we pushed for an independent review of whether DCA can handle additional flights,” he said in a post on X.
“I cannot believe my colleagues put politics over safety and rammed additional flights onto this clearly packed runway.”
Mr. Kaine said on the Senate floor in April that the previous near-collision at Reagan National was proof the airport was already overcrowded and warned against approving additional flights.
Despite concerns from him and other lawmakers, his amendment wasn’t considered before the Senate approved the bill and sent it to the House.
President Joe Biden signed the FAA reauthorization bill on May 17, right before the FAA programs were set to expire. This prevented the furloughing of more than 3,000 agency employees around the country.
