Us agency probes near-collision of Southwest, Cessna planes

US authorities said they are investigating a near-collision between a Southwest Airlines Co. plane and a Cessna business jet at San Diego airport last week.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday it’s looking into the runway incursion on Aug. 11 which left no injuries or damage. The incident took place when a Cessna 560X was cleared to land on runway 27 and conflicted with a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft which was in a line up on the same runway, it said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in June that it would start mandatory monthly safety training sessions for air-traffic controllers across the US after a spike in serious near-collisions.

There were eight incidents involving airliners on or near runways in the first two months of the year that ranked by FAA as a serious risk of a collision or that prompted the NTSB to open an investigation. That’s almost double the annual average for the previous five years.