Two CRJ-900 aircraft came very close to each other over Syracuse on Monday, June 8.
PSA Airlines flight #5511, operating a regional service from Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA), was cleared to land on runway 28 at Syracuse International Airport (SYR). Then, a Delta Connection flight — Endeavor Airlines #5421 to New York-LaGuardia (LGA) — was cleared to take off from runway 28. That’s nothing extraordinary. Planes are cleared to land a few miles out while other aircraft take off. That happens every day. (Planes generally are not cleared to land when flight attendants give the “We’ve been cleared to land, put your stuff away” spiel.)
ABC 7 News notes that FlightRadar24 data shows “the planes came about 700 to 1,000 feet within each other vertically. It is unclear how close they were horizontally.” The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating and told ABC 7, “An air traffic controller instructed PSA Airlines 5511 to go around at Syracuse Hancock International Airport to keep it separated from an aircraft that was departing on the same runway.”
Charlie Mortling, our resident aviation industry consultant and blogger AvGeeks.Aero, advised us that there should’ve been at least 3,000 feet of separation between the two aircraft. That’s significantly more than the 700-1,000 that separated the two planes.
Below is a video obtained from a police dashcam.
The FAA is investigating a situation where two planes (Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR) from American Airlines (flight AA5511) and Delta (flight DL5421) almost crashed mid-air over Syracuse (SYR), New York on 08 July 2024.
The flight controller authorized the Delta CRJ-900LR (N927XJ) to… pic.twitter.com/uvvcghBZh3
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) July 10, 2024
Thanks to LiveATC.net, I listened to a recording of the Syracuse tower’s communications from that period of time on Monday.
The events at hand begin at about the 27:00 mark. PSA Airlines (call sign “Blue Streak”) #5511 is cleared to land.
At the 30:25 mark, Endeavor #5421 is cleared for takeoff. About twenty seconds later, a voice asks, “Wait. Who’s cleared to takeoff on (runway) 2-8?” The voice sounds like that of someone on the PSA flight crew. Given that #5511 was issued its landing clearance about three minutes earlier, that would indicate the flight was getting pretty close to the runway.
The tower then tells #5511 to go around. #5511 is then given another landing clearance.
At about 32:35, Endeavor #5421 is given an instruction to fly a 310 (northwesterly) heading.
At about 32:55, #5511 reports they’re responding to an “R.A” or “Resolution Advisory.” Those are issued by a plane’s Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). So, it sounds like that’s the point when flight 5511’s TCAS warned the crew that another aircraft was closing in fast. The pilot then advises that it’s cleared.
Soon after, Endeavor #5421 is given the instruction to fly heading 280 (west) and also to switch to the departure frequency. The pilot acknowledges only the heading instruction. Nearly a minute later, the pilot asks the tower if they want him switch to the departure frequency. Um, yes.
At the 38:15 mark, #5511 confirms his plane is still cleared to land (it is). A couple of minutes later, it’s given taxiway instructions, indicating the plane landed safely.
Final Approach
Two regional jets — one flying for Delta Connection and the other for American Eagle — were dangerously close to each other during an incident that’s now being investigated by the FAA.
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