Multiple 'near misses' at Austin airport prompt changes

AUSTIN, Texas - From the highways to the ‘skyways,’ traffic in and out of Austin is booming. But a recent string of ‘near misses’ at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has raised concerns.

In February, a Southwest flight was cleared for take off as a FedEx cargo plane was coming in to land on the same runway. They missed each other by about 70 feet.

In June, an Allegiant plane came too close to a small plane as it was coming in to land.

In September, an F-18 fighter jet and Cessna Citation jet got too close. 

Earlier this month, a viewer told FOX 7 they were on a Dec. 4 flight from Tampa, on their descent into Austin, when the pilot ascended again. 

"The pilot got on the PA and admitted they didn’t feel comfortable with the landing," stated the viewer in an email. 

According to FlightAware, the plane descended to 375 ft. above the runway before ascending again.

An FAA spokesperson provided a statement to FOX 7 regarding the Dec. 4 flight.

"An air traffic controller instructed Southwest Airlines Flight 991 to perform a go-around…because another aircraft had not yet exited the runway. There was no loss of safe separation between the Southwest flight or any other aircraft."

The spokesperson went on to say that "a go-around is a safe, routine procedure performed at the discretion of a pilot or an air traffic controller."

The City of Austin addressed safety concerns in a recent memo after two other, deadly incidents occurred this year.

• On Oct. 31, a city of Austin employee died after being hit by an aircraft fueling truck.
• In April, an airline employee died at the airport in a single-vehicle wreck.

The airline employee had been operating a ground service vehicle that struck a jet bridge. 

According to the memo, the Austin airport does not have and cannot get existing ground radar detection equipment, "which the FAA completed deploying to airports well before AUS travel volumes reached the large-hub status." 

However, "the FAA announced on June 6, 2023, that it was soliciting technology for the next era of a surface situational awareness tool. The Department of Aviation will coordinate and collaborate with the FAA on securing new equipment for AUS."

The Department of Aviation is also in the process of developing a new virtual Ramp Control Program, according to the memo.

In October, Congressman Lloyd Doggett called on the FAA to address safety concerns.

He told FOX 7 that new ground equipment should be available to ABIA by the summer. In January, ABIA will get a new flight simulator. 

"This would allow them, for example, to be able to simulate foggy conditions with several planes coming in to adapt to the specific configuration that we have there at ABIA," said Congressman Doggett.

February’s incident involving a Southwest plane and a FedEx plane did occur during foggy conditions. 

The NTSB has released its findings so far into that investigation, including interview transcripts with the parties involved. 

In an interview with one of the Southwest co-pilots, it was noted that air traffic control was not the one to tell Southwest pilots to "abort." The FedEx pilot told Southwest to abort.

"I've never heard that before," said the Southwest co-pilot when asked if he had ever had another pilot tell him to abort a takeoff.

Locally, and nationwide, there is a shortage of air traffic controllers.

According to the FAA, ABIA is authorized to staff 42 controllers. There are currently 35 fully certified controllers.

"There are currently another 8 Certified Professional Controllers in Training (CPC-IT) (not academy grads, but controllers previously fully certified at another facility) at the facility," said an FAA spokesperson in a statement to FOX 7. "CPC-ITs are working at least one air traffic position at the facility."

"Another thing that needs to happen, and I think the FAA needs to move on more quickly is to determine at each airport how many air traffic controllers do we really need?" said Congressman Doggett.

MORE STORIES:

• New details revealed about February near-collision at Austin airport
• 2 deadly incidents at Austin-Bergstrom prompt city review of safety programs
• Fatal incident at Austin airport; employee hit outside terminal

Air traffic controllers have big shoes to fill, according to a pilot and aviation law expert FOX 7 spoke to earlier this year. 

"It's a high-stress load situation for controllers," said Mike Slack, managing partner at Slack Davis Sanger. "They rotate off their duty stations more frequently than you might imagine just because of the intensity of handling the tower position."

Currently, air traffic controllers have to go to Oklahoma to be trained.

"As a result of the shortage, the FAA administrator who has experience within the industry is now going to rely on some good programs that are available at a number of colleges around the country so that we have one additional source of people to come into air traffic controlling," said Congressman Doggett.

There is also a pending FAA reauthorization bill that Congressman Doggett has expressed support for. 

"I believe that everyone involved thinks that the sooner we get the full authorization completed, the more likely we are to resolve some of these problems," he said. "But I see our needs in Austin as independent whether the bill moves or not."

In January, the FAA Administrator will visit the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in person.