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The Federal Aviation Administration launched an investigation after a police car's dash camera video captured two commuter planes nearly colliding over Syracuse, New York, on Monday (July 8).
The incident occurred at Syracuse Hancock International Airport as one plane was preparing to land while another was taking off. Air traffic controllers instructed American Airlines Flight 5511 to abort its landing attempt because they had cleared Delta Air Lines Flight 5421 to take off from the same runway.
The American Airlines plane was about a mile from the airport and just 1,000 feet off the ground as the Delta plane barreled down the runway.
The American Airlines pilot began evasive maneuvers and started to pull up as the mid-air collision warning alarm sounded, indicating the planes were about 20 seconds away from colliding. The two planes came within just 600 feet of each other.
The Delta flight continued to its destination without incident, and the American Airlines plane was able to land safely at the airport about ten minutes later.
Both airlines are cooperating with the FAA's investigation into the near-miss.