NTSB to investigate AA-Air Canada near-miss on runway at Sarasota Intl Airport

The United States (US) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate another near-miss in the country, after American Airlines and Air Canada Rouge aircraft almost collided on the runway at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ).

The NTSB detailed that the incident involved an American Airlines Boeing 737 and an Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321 on February 16, 2023. While the former was cleared to land on runway 14, the latter was also cleared for takeoff from the same runway, the safety board noted.

“The American Airlines crew self-initiated a go-around. No injuries or damage reported. A preliminary report expected in 2-3 weeks,” NTSB said in a statement published on Twitter.

Two aircraft involved in near-miss at SRQ
According to an analysis of flightradar24.com data conducted by AeroTime, the two aircraft involved were an American Airlines Boeing 737-800, registered N976NN, and Air Canada Rouge’s Airbus A321, registered C-FJQH.

The B737 was operating flight AA2172 from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to SRQ, while the Canadian carrier’s A321 was on flight AC1633 from SRQ to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Canada.

For a brief moment, the American Airlines narrowbody jet, had its calibrated altitude at 0 feet at 8:58 PM local time (UTC -5). At the same time, the Air Canada Rouge single-aisle aircraft was on the runway, with the altitude of the aircraft that was first tracked by flightradar24.com being at 75 ft (22.8 meters). The Canadian carrier’s A321 continued to its scheduled destination, while the American Airlines Boeing 737-800, following its go-around, landed at SRQ at 9:07 PM local time (UTC -5).

As reported by Reuters, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the two aircraft were separated by about 3,100 ft (945 m).

News of the incident follows a string of other near misses in the US, involving a number of airlines at several airports. Recently, the FAA detailed a near-miss incident at Boston International Airport (BOS) involving a JetBlue Embraer E190 and a private operator’s Learjet 60, which occurred on February 27, 2023.

Meanwhile, the NTSB recently published its preliminary report about a near-miss incident at Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), when a FedEx Boeing 767F almost landed on top of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 on February 4, 2023, detailing the events of the safety occurrence.