Two airplanes narrowly avoided a collision while departing Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport earlier this month, leading to a federal investigation.
A Volaris Airlines flight bound for El Salvador made an unauthorized right turn into the path of a United Express flight headed to Jackson, Mississippi, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Air traffic control had instructed Volaris Flight 4321 to turn left after departing Houston Intercontinental Airport on Dec. 18, but the crew turned right towards CommuteAir Flight 814 instead, which had departed from a parallel runway, as reported by the FAA.
United Airlines is a partial owner of CommuteAir.
The incident occurred around 3:05 p.m. local time, and the FAA is currently investigating.
CommuterAir stated that, based on its initial assessment, its crew followed all applicable ATC instructions.
FOX Business reached out to Volaris for comment, while the airport referred inquiries to the FAA.
According to the airport’s website, Houston Intercontinental Airport sees an average of 500 daily arriving flights and over 20 million passenger arrivals annually.
Despite the increase in close calls and safety incidents in the airline industry, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has reassured the public that flying is safe.
He reiterated this message ahead of the Christmas holiday, a busy time for airports with thousands of passengers.
“We will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the airspace is safe,” Duffy told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo earlier this month.
