Investigators report that a private jet narrowly avoided colliding with a Southwest Airlines aircraft on a San Diego runway two years ago, primarily due to distractions faced by air traffic controllers in the tower.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its final findings on the incident that occurred in August 2023.
The NTSB concluded that both the controller managing the planes and the supervisor made poor decisions that diverted their focus from the landing process. Fortunately, the airport’s automated tracking system for ground planes and vehicles alerted the controller to the potential danger, enabling the private jet to ascend and circle before landing safely.
Incidents like this heighten concerns regarding aviation safety, especially following the deadliest airplane crash in decades, where an airliner collided with an Army helicopter, along with a series of other crashes and near misses. In June, an Air India aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in the deaths of all but one of the 242 individuals on board and 29 people on the ground.
The NTSB noted that the San Diego controller involved made a significant error in judgment by contacting the regional FAA radar facility to discuss the altitude of an unrelated airplane while the business jet was preparing to land. The controller admitted the mistake during a post-incident interview.
Another contributing factor to the near miss was that the tower supervisor was also distracted. According to the NTSB, the supervisor was dealing with an issue related to a printer that controllers rely on. Instead of switching to the backup printer, the supervisor attempted to fix the problem, diverting attention from the critical landing operation, as stated in the report.
Fortunately, the San Diego airport is one of 35 major facilities where the FAA has implemented advanced surface radar systems, which assist in tracking aircraft and vehicles on the ground. This system provided an essential layer of safety that prevented a collision in this event.
