US Probes Close Call Between FedEx, Southwest Jets in Austin

(Bloomberg) -- A FedEx Corp. widebody jet flew over the top of a Southwest Airlines Co. plane early Saturday in Texas after an air-traffic controller cleared the passenger plane to take off from the same runway that the cargo aircraft was preparing to land on, aviation authorities said.

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The US National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the close call at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, it said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also reviewing the incident. The FedEx jet, a Boeing 767, had to abort its landing at about 6:30 a.m. local time, the FAA said without elaborating on how close the two planes came to colliding.

The Southwest jet, a 737, departed from the same runway safely, the FAA said. Federal rules require that landing or departing flights are clear of a runway before another plane is cleared onto the same strip to prevent the risk of collision.

Austin Bergstrom International airport is the third-busiest in Texas, behind Dallas Forth-Worth International and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to FAA data. 

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