Footage captured on a police vehicle’s dashcam appeared to show two regional jets almost collide midair in the United States (US).
Video shot on July 8, 2024, showed a Delta Connection flight, operated by Endeavour Air, departing Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR), New York, shortly after 11:50.
An American Eagle flight, operated by PSA Airlines for American Airlines, arriving from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), was due to arrive at SYR at 11:19 but departed late.
Shortly after 11:50, the Delta Flight 5421 and PSA Airlines 5511 aircraft seemed to pass worryingly close but having looked at the incident the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose not to describe the incident as a close call.
Data provided by FlightRadar24 reported that the two aircraft came within 700 to 1,000 feet of each other vertically.
However, the camera angle from the Syracuse Police vehicle obscures the horizontal distance which was clearly not enough of concern for the FAA.
The American Eagle, also called Blue Streak, was told to initiate a go around by air traffic control at Syracuse Airport as a precaution.
This is wild. Too close for comfort. @NewsChannel9 obtained video showing an apparent close call between airplanes taking off Monday morning from the @SyracuseAirport. pic.twitter.com/t3jqbQrNyR
— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) July 8, 2024
“An air traffic controller instructed Blue Streak Flight 5511 to go around at Syracuse Hancock International Airport to keep it safely separated from an aircraft that was departing on the same runway,” the FAA said in a statement.
Staff at SYR also said that there were “no disruptions to airport operations today”.
Both aircraft were CRJ-900 models.