US probes close call between FedEx, Southwest jets in Austin

A FedEx Corp. widebody jet flew over the top of a Southwest Airlines Co. plane early Saturday in Texas after an air-traffic controller cleared the passenger plane to take off from the same runway that the cargo aircraft was preparing to land on, aviation authorities said.

The US National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the close call at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, it said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also reviewing the incident. The FedEx jet, a Boeing 767, had to abort its landing at about 6:30 a.m. local time, the FAA said without elaborating on how close the two planes came to colliding.

The Southwest jet, a 737, departed from the same runway safely, the FAA said. Federal rules require that landing or departing flights are clear of a runway before another plane is cleared onto the same strip to prevent the risk of collision.

Austin Bergstrom International airport is the third-busiest in Texas, behind Dallas Forth-Worth International and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, according to FAA data.