FAA Investigating Near Miss Involving Alaska Airlines Flight at Newark Airport

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating a scary incident involving another Alaska Airlines flight earlier this week.

According to radar data and later confirmed by officials, the Boeing 737 passenger jet nearly collided with a Boeing 777 FedEx cargo plane as the two aircraft attempted to land on intersecting runways at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday night.

A potential disaster was avoided when air traffic controllers instructed the Alaska Airlines pilots to perform a go-around while the plane was just 150 feet off the ground. The plane would clear the FedEx aircraft by just 300 to 325 feet.

"An air traffic controller instructed Alaska Airlines Flight 294 to perform a go-around at Newark International Airport because FedEx Flight 721 was cleared for the final approach to an intersecting runway. The FAA is investigating," the agency said.

Alaska Airlines confirmed that "air traffic control issued a go-around to our aircraft, which our pilots are highly trained for."

This is just the latest near-miss incident involving a passenger plane. More recently, a pair of incidents involving commercial jets and helicopters prompted the FAA to announce a new measure giving air traffic controllers more responsibility in hopes of preventing mid-air collisions.

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