(NewsNation) — After a growing number of serious close calls both in the air and on the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration is having a safety summit Wednesday.
The FAA is currently investigating at least seven confirmed near-accidents since the beginning of the year. Six happened on runways at airports all around the country. Planes initially cleared to take off had to be diverted or halted because they were in the path of another plane that was also taking off.
One incident in Austin, Texas nearly saw a passenger flight and a FedEx plane come within 100 feet of each other, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Another earlier this month at Boston’s Logan Airport happened after one passenger jet pilot was told to wait on the runway because another plane was about to land on an intersecting runway.
One especially terrifying moment came in Hawaii, when a United Airlines flight took a nosedive, nearly plunging into the ocean.
“All of us share a responsibility to keep our system safe,” acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said. “I want to hear from the participants about what they’re seeing in their own operations, and more important, I want specific ideas about how to enhance our already robust safety net.”
Nolen says he believes these near-misses are happening because of what he calls pressures in the system — including a surge in travel coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic, demand for flights has returned to where it was before, but the industry itself is still running at about 80% capacity.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and NTSB director Jennifer Homendy are both slated to speak as the summit gets underway at 10:30 a.m. ET.