The Federal Aviation Administration said it was looking into an incident involving two planes at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Saturday. The National Transportation Safety Board initially tweeted about a “possible runway incursion and overflight” that involved a Southwest Airlines plane and a FedEx cargo plane.
In an initial statement, the FAA said preliminary information found FedEx Flight 1432 had been cleared to land on Runway 18-Left at AUS around 6:40 a.m. Saturday morning. That FedEx flight was cleared for its landing while the plane was still several miles from the airport.
Shortly before its expected landing, the controller cleared Southwest Flight 708 to depart from the same runway, per the FAA.
At that time, there was heavy fog in Austin.
“The pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out,” FAA officials said in a statement. “The Southwest flight departed safely. The FAA is investigating the incident.”
The FedEx plane was a Boeing 767 cargo airplane model, while the Southwest Airlines flight was a Boeing 737 model.
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Article URL : https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-airport-plane-incident-under-federal-aviation-administration-investigation/