Federal officials are investigating another near miss between a commercial passenger jet and a helicopter, this time in the skies above Cleveland, Ohio.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that it is sending a team to investigate the incident that occurred on October 29 between a Southwest Airlines 737 jet and a Eurocopter medical helicopter near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE).
According to the agency, the two aircraft had a “loss of separation event,” which means they came closer to each other than the minimum amount of distance required between aircraft to maintain safety.
The incident occurred as Southwest flight 1333 from Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) was making its final approach into CLE, according to a Southwest statement to Reuters.
The airline pilot aborted the landing and the plane landed safely a short time later. The two aircraft were as close as a half mile apart at one point as the helicopter passed in front of the plane, Reuters reports.
The event is the latest in a string of near-misses between helicopter traffic and airliners that have occurred across the country throughout 2025. Passengers and safety officials have been paying close attention to such incidents after a tragic mid-air collision in Washington, D.C., between an American Airlines regional jet and a military helicopter killed 67 people.
Since that fatal accident, officials have been investigating how to change protocols to make helicopter operations safer around high-traffic airports. In early October, the FAA updated helicopter route charts and added new buffer zones for the Washington, D.C. area, which includes Baltimore’s airport.
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