Landing 767 Overflies Departing 737 In Runway Incident At Austin

The crew of a FedEx Boeing 767 landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport had to go around and overfly a Southwest 737 taking off on the same runway early Saturday. The FAA and NTSB have confirmed they're investigating the incident, which happened about 6:40 a.m. local time. The NTSB described it as a “possible runway incursion and overflight involving airplanes from Southwest Airlines and FedEx.” The FAA said, "the pilot of the FedEx airplane discontinued the landing and initiated a climb out,” the FAA said in a statement to The Associated Press.

The 767 had been cleared to land and the 737 cleared to take off on the same runway. Tracking data suggests the 767 was less than 100 feet above the Southwest plane as the widebody crew hit the gas. The Southwest crew continued their takeoff and headed to Cancun. The 767 landed a short time later. Southwest didn't comment immediately and FedEx only confirmed that something happened. “FedEx Express Flight 1432 from Memphis, Tenn. to Austin, Texas safely landed after encountering an event just before landing at Austin Bergstrom International Airport this morning," the company said in a statement to AP.