The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began its investigation following a close call between a JetBlue aircraft and a school flight. The near miss occurred in Fort Lauderdale, where the aircraft came 500 feet from one another.
The Incident
On Monday, June 1, the school flight Beechcraft 76 aircraft, attributed to Sun City Aviation LLC, and a JetBlue Flight 1256 almost had a close encounter, as they were within 500 feet from each other. The incident almost happened near Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL) at around 6:15 p.m.
Near to landing, the JetBlue service was alerted that an aircraft, which was not communicating with air traffic control, was in close distance. One of the pilots then told air traffic control that the Beechcraft was turning towards them. According to the FAA, Flight 1256 received a notification in the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, which made them fly higher to avoid a collision.
One of the controllers said to one of the pilots, “This guy is insane,” to which the response was “I agree”, showcasing the gravity of what could have been, as both the controller and the pilot were shocked by the flight school pilot’s actions.
The Investigation
Currently, the FAA is investigating the near miss and hasn’t reached any conclusions yet. So far, it is known that the area where the flight school aircraft was flying doesn’t require direct communication with air traffic control, which may be why the pilot wasn’t in communication.
Additionally, FAA charts indicate that the area around Fort Lauderdale is a common region for flight training practices for both pilots and aircraft. It is also known that the weather conditions didn’t affect the pilot’s visibility.
More information relating to the FAA investigation is yet to come.
What do you think of the almost accident? What’s your opinion of the flight school pilot’s behaviour? Share your opinions in the comments below.
