Events occurred in New York City and Burbank, California
WASHINGTON (June 20, 2024) — The NTSB issued preliminary reports this week on an April 17 close call at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and a February 2023 loss of separation at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California.
On April 17, the flight crew of a Swiss Air Airbus A330 rejected an attempted takeoff at New York’s Kennedy Airport after sighting traffic on the runway. Shortly after one air traffic controller cleared the Swiss Air flight for takeoff on Runway 4L, another controller cleared four jetliners to cross the same runway. No one was injured in the incident. In a separate investigation of a runway incursion at JFK last year, investigators found that airport surveillance detection equipment, model X, or ASDE-X, alerted controllers of a potential collision. That same system did not issue an alert during the April 17 incursion because the Swiss Air flight never reached the thresholds of both acceleration and velocity that would indicate to the system that the jetliner was in a “departure state.”
In the Feb. 22, 2023, incursion at Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California, an air traffic controller issued directions to two passenger jets that resulted in a loss of minimum separation. The conflict, which involved a Mesa Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 inbound for landing and a departing SkyWest Airlines Embraer EMB-170, triggered the traffic collision advisory system in each airplane to issue “resolution advisories.” Both flight crews complied with the TCAS advisories until they were clear of the conflict. The point of closest separation was about 1,700 feet.
NTSB investigators recently reclassified the Burbank incursion as a more serious Class 3 investigation, triggering the later-than-usual issuance of a preliminary report. Preliminary reports contain only factual evidence collected during the early or on-scene phase of the investigation and do not include analysis, a finding of probable cause or safety recommendations, which are issued at the conclusion of the investigation.
In addition to the New York and Burbank incidents, the NTSB is currently investigating the following runway incursion incidents and accidents:
- Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL) Jan. 23, 2023, (DCA23LA133 – Incident prelim report available)
- Sarasota, Florida (SRQ) Feb. 16, 2023, (DCA23LA179 – Incident prelim report available)
- Houston, Texas (HOU) Oct. 24, 2023, (DCA24FA017 – Accident prelim report available)
- Arlington, Virginia (DCA) May 29, 2024, (OPS24LA031 – Incident prelim report available in coming weeks)
Recently completed incursion investigations include Austin, Texas (Feb 13, 2023) and New York JFK (Jan. 3, 2023).
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
