A Boeing 767 cargo plane had a terrifying near miss after being cleared for landing just as a Boeing 737 was given the go-ahead to take off on the exact same stretch of tarmac.
The captain of the cargo plane cleared for landing at Austin-Bergstrom Airport was concerned about jet on the runway below.
According to federal investigators, the pilot asked for and received confirmation that he was clear to land then decided to abort the landing.
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The passenger aircraft crew shouted "Southwest abort," while the cargo crew is reported as saying "FedEx is on the go," according to a federal report.
The two planes came within 75 vertical feet of one another before the cargo plane climbed back into the skies away from the Southwest flight, which was carrying 128 passengers.
The cargo plane then landed safely soon after.
The incident, which took place on Saturday morning (February 25), occurred in poor visibility.
Southwest, the airline that was flying the passenger plane, declined to comment on the incident while FedEx said its flight "safely landed after encountering an event."
"FedEx Express Flight 1432 from Memphis, Tennessee to Austin, Texas safely landed after encountering an event just before landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport this morning," FedEx said.
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The incident is just the latest in a long line of near misses at airports in the US.
On Monday (February 27) , a JetBlue pilot had to dodge another jet crossing the runway as the first plane was about to land.
According to the Washington Post, the increasing incidents caused the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a reminder to the aviation industry on flying safety.
Yet another close call happened at JFK airport in New York on January 13 after an American Airlines plane crossed a runway while a Delta Airlines' Boeing 737 plane was preparing for take off.
This time, the Delta Boeing 737 was forced to abandon its take off just in the nick of time.
The two plans were less than 100 feet from colliding.
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