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GEOFF BENNETT: U.S. 
airports have seen an 
uptick in near-collisions 
involving commercial planes,

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a problem prompting the 
FAA to call for a safety 
summit, launching a review of

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safety standards and 
procedures, with the goal 
of preventing catastrophe.

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At airports across the country, 
one close call after another,

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the latest just outside 
Washington, D.C., at 
Reagan National Airport 
earlier this month,

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when a Republic Airways plane 
took a wrong turn, crossing 
the path of a United Airlines

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jet just as it was about to 
take off, prompting alarm 
at air traffic control.

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CONTROLLER: United 2003, 
cancel takeoff clearance!

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UNITED PILOT: Aborting 
takeoff, aborting.

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GEOFF BENNETT:

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Six other recent near-misses 
are now being investigated 
by the federal government,

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including at New York's 
JFK, when an American 
Airlines plane crossed

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the runway as a Delta 
flight was taking off, in 
Honolulu, when a United flight

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crossed the runway as a 
cargo plane was about to 
land, and, in Austin, Texas,

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when two planes came 
within 100 feet of each 
other as one was landing 
and the other taking off.

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Last month, senators 
pressed acting FAA

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Administrator Billy Nolen on 
the spate of near-collisions.

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SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): What 
can we do to make sure 
that doesn't happen again?

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BILLY NOLEN, Acting 
Administrator, Federal 
Aviation Administration: It

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is not what we would 
expect to have happened.

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But, when we think about the 
controllers, how we train both 
our controllers and our pilots,

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the system works as it 
is designed to avert 
what you say could have 
been a horrific outcome.

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GEOFF BENNETT: And, this 
week, the FAA convened 
a safety summit with

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aviation leaders and 
labor groups to figure out 
where the problems lie.

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PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. 
Secretary of Transportation: 
We are particularly 
concerned because we

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have seen an uptick in 
serious close calls that 
we must address together.

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GEOFF BENNETT: And aviation 
correspondent Miles 
O'Brien joins us now.

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So, Miles, can we say 
for certain whether the 
number of near-collisions

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is on the rise? Or is 
it possible we're just 
paying more attention?

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MILES O'BRIEN: Well, we 
certainly are paying more 
attention, aren't we,

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Geoff? And that's a good 
thing for all of us, 
because that ultimately 
is what leads to safety.

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Just because we don't have 
an accident doesn't imply 
we have safety. So we

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have to be aggressive 
about these things. 
Looking at the numbers,

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the FAA classifies these 
by severity. The top two 
most severe incidents are

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incidents where a near-collision 
almost happened or there 
was a potential for one.

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If you look back for -- over 
airline operations since about 
2016, there have been a handful

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of these per year of the top 
two categories. And then the 
most severe one, the one that is

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narrowly missed a collision, 
there have been only 
three over the past five 
years and none in 2022.

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So the fact that we're dealing 
with a half-dozen or more in the

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first quarter of 2023 
indicates something 
truly is going on here.

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GEOFF BENNETT: What are some of 
the factors that officials will

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be looking into as they delve 
into these investigations?

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MILES O'BRIEN: Well, one 
of the things they will be 
looking at is the aviation 
industry post-COVID.

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In the midst of the pandemic, 
there were lots of retirements, 
lots of layoffs. And as the

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flying public has returned 
to the skies, almost 
with a vengeance, we 
have a lot of new people,

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both in the cockpits, in 
the cabins, in the air 
traffic control tower 
cabs, and, for that matter,

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the people driving the 
vehicles that push and pull the 
airplanes and service them.

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So we have kind of a 
juniorocracy of going 
on there, which is not 
good. Now, on top of that,

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there been a lot of 
distractions. In January, 
we had that massive 
computer meltdown,

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which shut down the system for 
quite a while. We have repeated 
cases of unruly passengers,

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problems on board these 
aircraft. There have been 
concerns about 5G cellular

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communications interfering 
with the navigation.

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And so you have a system that 
is stressed and maybe doesn't

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have the most experienced people 
dealing with it at the moment.

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GEOFF BENNETT: We should point 
out, though, that the FAA 
says that air travel is safe.

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The American aviation 
system hasn't had a fatal 
airliner crash in nearly 
a decade. Still, Miles,

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what can be done to improve the 
situational awareness for pilots 
and air traffic controllers?

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MILES O'BRIEN: Well, the FAA has 
tried to make this a focus. And

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they have done things 
like change the way they 
mark the runways and

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the taxiways. There are 
flashing lights indicating 
where an active runway may be.

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The charts which we receive 
as pilots indicate so-called 
hot spots at airports

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where there is difficulty. A 
couple of airports, Atlanta 
and Dallas/Fort Worth,

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have built these concrete 
so-called end-around 
taxiways, which make it

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possible for airliners to get 
to where they're going without 
crossing an active runway.

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That obviously creates a much 
safer situation. But the one 
they just built in Atlanta,

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which just opened recently, 
cost $81 million. And not every 
airport has that flexibility to

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do that. A place like Boston 
Logan Airport, which has all 
kinds of intersecting runways,

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doesn't have the turf to 
build extra taxiway space.

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GEOFF BENNETT: To your point, 
we have an aviation system 
that has grown rapidly,

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but the number of runways in 
airports has not. The last

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new major airport in this 
country was opened in 
1995, Denver International.

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Is it at all practical 
to imagine building new 
airports with safer runways?

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MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it's 
tough in this country. 
Just think about China 
for a moment. They plan

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to build 200 airports over 
the next 15 years. That 
would -- that would double

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the number of airports they 
have. But they don't have a 
messy democracy to contend with.

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It's difficult to start 
bulldozing places to 
create new airports and

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build new runways in 
this country. There's all

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kinds of permitting process. 
And there's a lot of neighbors 
who don't like this idea.

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But we should point 
out there are more than

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5,000 airports in the United 
States, public use airports. 
Some of them are pretty small,

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but there are quite a few 
that are either military or 
civilian which are large and

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underutilized. And if we 
move some of the traffic 
there, that might solve 
some of this problem.

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But here's the dirty little 
secret. The airlines don't 
like this idea. They like

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their hub-and-spoke system, a 
couple of dozen airports that 
get a tremendous amount of

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traffic funneled into them. 
And they don't necessarily 
want to open up new airports,

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which opens up the possibility 
of new competitors, 
making it more difficult 
for them to make a buck.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Aviation 
correspondent Miles O'Brien.

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Miles, thanks so much.

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MILES O'BRIEN: You're 
welcome, Geoff.