- Close Call Between Landing, Departing Planes
- Hollywood-Burbank Airport
On Wednesday evening, a runway incursion occurred at Bob Hope Burbank Airport in California involving two commercial airliners. The incident, which is under federal investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), involved a landing Mesa Airlines CRJ900 and a SkyWest Embraer E175 taking off from the same runway. According to the NTSB, the crew of the Mesa Airlines CRJ900 “executed a pilot-initiated go-around” as the SkyWest Embraer E175 was taking off.
A go-around is a landing aborted on the approach, and it is unclear why the Mesa Airlines CRJ900 initiated the go-around. However, live recordings from the time of the incident on LiveATC.net reveal confusion over whether the SkyWest flight was off the runway. One unidentified voice asked, “Is he off the runway yet?” to which the Mesa flight crew responded, “We’re going around.” The SkyWest aircraft continued its departure, which prompted an automated alert to sound on the flight deck of the Mesa aircraft.
Thankfully, neither airplane was damaged, and nobody on board was hurt. However, neither agency has disclosed how close the two planes came to a collision. The controller instructed the Mesa crew to turn to a course that took it away from the other aircraft.