Expand / Collapse search
☰

American Airlines jet aborts landing at DCA to avoid runway collision

By Stephen Sorace
Published  February 26, 2025 4:50pm MST
Air and Space
FOX 5 DC

Near miss at DCA: Experts say the aborted landing was the right move

We are learning more about an American Airlines flight forced to abort a landing at Reagan National Airport to avoid colliding with another plane. FOX 5's Homa Bash joins us now with the latest on this and why experts say flyers shouldn't be concerned.

The Brief

    • An American Airlines jet aborted its landing at Reagan National Airport Tuesday to avoid a collision with another plane taking off.
    • A similar near-miss occurred at Chicago Midway Airport, where a Southwest flight had to pull up to avoid a private jet.
    • Other recent aviation incidents include an emergency landing at Newark Liberty Airport and a Delta flight returning to Atlanta due to cabin "haze."
    • The incidents come weeks after a deadly midair collision near DCA that killed 67 people.

WASHINGTON - An American Airlines jet aborted a landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to avoid a collision with another plane on Tuesday morning, aviation officials said.

Near-miss plane crash at DCA

Timeline:

The flight was making its final descent at 8:20 a.m. when the pilot saw another plane preparing to take off from the runway and made the quick decision to perform a go-around maneuver, in which the pilot pulled up and ascended toward the skies, to avoid the other aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The FAA said the maneuver was made to "ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway.

American Airlines told Fox News Digital in a statement that the flight "landed safely and normally at DCA after it was instructed by Air Traffic Control to complete a standard go-around to allow another aircraft more time for takeoff."

"American has a no-fault go-around policy as a go-around is not an abnormal flight maneuver and can occur nearly every day in the National Airspace System," the airline's statement said. "It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations, and any assertion that flight 2246’s canceled approach was more than that is inaccurate."

Close call at Chicago Midway Airport

Within a span of 90 minutes, another flight in Chicago was forced to abort its landing to avoid a collision with a plane on the runway.

Related