Flight headed to Pearson Airport in Mississauga has close call on Florida runway

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the U.S. is investigating after an Air Canada passenger jet bound for Pearson Airport in Mississauga had a near miss with an American Airlines flight on a Florida runway.

The close call, among the latest in a series of such recent incidents at U.S. airports, took place on Feb. 16 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and involved an Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321 and an American Airlines Boeing 737.

According to aviation industry organization FlightGlobal, the NTSB revealed details of the near-tragic incident on Monday (March 6), saying that the two passenger jets were on a potential collision course on Runway 14 until the situation was resolved.

The Air Canada Rouge jet, operating as Flight 1633, was on the runway and had been given clearance for takeoff to Pearson while at the same time the incoming American Airlines flight was given permission to land on the same runway, the NTSB reported.

According to investigators, FlightGlobal reports, the flight crew on board the incoming aircraft “self-initiated” a go-around, meaning the aircraft interrupted its landing plan and remained in the air to allow the Canadian jet to take off.

The incoming flight to Sarasota, located south of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast, had taken off from Charlotte, North Carolina.

The NTSB said it expects to release a preliminary report about the incident later this month.

The organization has investigated a number of close calls at American airports over the past few months.

Meanwhile, the Feb. 16 near miss was the second incident in three weeks involving an Air Canada Rouge passenger jet in Florida.

On Jan. 23, an Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321-200 was flying from Cozumel, Mexico to Pearson Airport when the flight crew declared a “Mayday” and diverted to Tampa.

According to aviation organization Simple Flying, “issues arose with various flight systems” and the aircraft was forced to land in Tampa.

“The issues were so severe that the crew was forced to declare Mayday,” Simple Flying stated.

It’s reported that while flying over the Gulf of Mexico, the Canadian aircraft’s crew began to receive “multiple successive fault messages” related to information about the aircraft’s engine and overall systems.

The flight landed safely in Tampa just under an hour after the issues first arose, and it later continued on to Pearson.

Map shows path taken of a Jan. 23 Air Canada Rouge flight that declared a “Mayday” and was forced to land in Tampa. (Image: FlightRadar24.com)