AllisonFeb 8, 2023
Rick Klau

Oof, The more I read about the near-miss in Austin, the more terrifying it gets:

"This Austin situation is awful. As bad as it gets without body bags….

This was a total system failure. These airplanes were not separated by any good fortune of serendipitous timing. The only thing preventing another Tenerife was the FedEx crew's situational awareness and the breath of god." /via @JFallows

https://fallows.substack.com/p/as-bad-as-it-gets-without-body-bags

‘As bad as it gets without body bags.’

Why the Austin airport situation was so dangerous.

Breaking the News
Feb 7, 2023 at 11:57pmWeb
Show threadJohn MinnihanFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows holy wow. wow wow wow.
Show threadBrandon Kraft ❤️‍🔥🧡Feb 8, 2023

@rklau @JFallows Would have been... "lucky" that the FedEx wasn't carrying passengers.

It sounds a lot like the 1991 LA event. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_runway_disaster

Los Angeles runway disaster - Wikipedia

Show threadBrian DearFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows Wow this is the first I’ve heard of this incident. Astounded. Came so close to being Tenerife 2.0.
Show threadTim FredeFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows I had read about this incident but I didn’t realize that the Southwest plane continued the take off. I wonder what the vertical separation was? It couldn’t have been much.
Show threaddr2chaseFeb 8, 2023
@frede @rklau @JFallows https://vannevar.blogspot.com/2023/02/austin-fedexdal-disaster-jfk-incursion.html says 75 feet.
Austin disaster; JFK incursion; Memphis police: Safety Systems Gone Wrong

The headline in The Daily Mail says, "... desperate pilot landing at Austin airport tells passenger jet below it to abort takeoff because ...

Show threadTim FredeFeb 8, 2023
@dr2chase @rklau @JFallows 75 ft!!! Wow…
Show threadKimberleyFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows G'ah! That was a near catastrophe. Bravo, to the FedEx flight crew.
Show threadJim ReaFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows airline pilots take on this. He’s pissed. https://youtu.be/SvUOHa8n7aQ
Austin, TX Loss of Separation 4 Feb 2023

YouTube
Show threadbobocubedFeb 8, 2023

@provuejim @rklau @JFallows

Came to post this. Juan Browne is a 777 FO and has a great channel with insights into these incidents, and I have rarely seen him this agitated.

Show threadAnita Y ChengFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows Ah geez. Everyone sounded calm on the recording, but I hope therapy is made available to everyone involved. That's SUCH a close call!
Show threadThomas CFeb 8, 2023
@rklau same thoughts. Saw the info about it a couple of mins after it happened and now hearing and seeing what occurred is unreal. And major props to the FedEx crew for taking control of it.
Show threadGrandpa DonFeb 8, 2023
@rklau
Wow! If that was in a movie nobody would believe it could really happen.
Show threadAndy RabagliatiFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows
"The FedEx crew is The Right Stuff-style unflappable the whole time." Amazing the audio sounds like people having a cup of tea
Show threadkeplernikoFeb 8, 2023
@rklau @JFallows fascinating to watch the replay of this incident. So close to completely-preventable disaster.
Show threadGrandpa DonFeb 8, 2023
@rklau
I gotta say, after first reading and then watching the animation with actual audio, the apology at the end was bone chilling. I suppose all involved are trained to avoid any chatter or high emotion on radio ("just the facts, ma'am, just the facts") but that Maxwell Smart "sorry about that" after nearly killing everyone on two planes through (what? Sleepiness? Boredom? Reading Playboy?) was creepy.
Show threadj robinson ☕️ &🍸Feb 9, 2023
@rklau
i started crying at Time 2:14. Humans overcoming horrible fucked up systems and refusing to kill or die gets me every time.
@JFallows