An Air Canada aircraft was involved in a near-miss incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport this week, according to U.S. aviation authorities, adding to growing concerns over runway and air traffic safety in the United States.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident occurred Monday when the pilots of a Republic Airways flight were forced to take evasive action after missing their intended approach and coming too close to the Air Canada aircraft.
The Air Canada Express flight had arrived from Toronto and had been cleared to land on a parallel runway.
In a statement, Air Canada said its crew received an onboard traffic warning along with instructions from air traffic control and responded immediately.
The airline emphasized that safety remains its highest priority and noted that crews are trained to handle situations of this nature.
The FAA said the Republic Airways aircraft also received an onboard alert. Officials added that the details released so far are preliminary and the investigation remains ongoing.
The close call comes only weeks after a far more serious tragedy involving an Air Canada jet at LaGuardia Airport, where two Canadian pilots were killed after the aircraft collided with a fire truck on the runway.
The pilots were identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.
That crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which has said the fire truck had been cleared to cross the runway only seconds before the collision. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is also assisting in the investigation.
The latest incident has renewed scrutiny on staffing shortages and mounting pressure within the U.S. air traffic control system, where years of understaffing and operational strain have raised safety concerns across the industry.
The FAA also reported another recent close call in Tennessee involving two Southwest Airlines planes that had to take evasive action after one was directed into the path of the other.
While no injuries were reported in the JFK incident, the sequence of recent events is likely to intensify calls for reforms aimed at protecting passengers, crews, and airport workers across North America.