Air traffic control mistake causednear-collision at US airport | BBC News

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) inthe US has said that a mistake by an air traffichcontroller caused a near-collision in Texas last year.

An investigation was launched after a FedEx plane anda Southwest Airlines jet came within about 170 feet(52 m) of each other, before the FedEx Boeing 767was forced to fly over the Southwest 737-700 to avoida crash in poor visibility conditions.

Investigations determined that an air traffic controllerhad cleared both planes to use the same runway,having expected the Southwest plane - which had 123passengers onboard - would have already departedbefore the FedEx plane landed, given his "expectationbias" that Southwest planes were quick to depart.

The incident - one of at least half a dozen near-missincidents in the US last year - raised concerns aboutaviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control.