Two planes narrowly avoid catastrophic crash at Newark Airport

20 Mar 2026 • 7:05 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • A commercial airliner and a cargo plane narrowly avoided a collision at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday.
  • An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737, performing an aborted landing, came within 300 feet of a FedEx Boeing 777 on an intersecting runway.
  • Air traffic control instructed the Alaska Airlines flight to 'go around' as the FedEx plane had already been cleared for its approach.
  • Both Alaska Airlines and FedEx confirmed their flight crews followed air traffic control instructions, with the incident now under review by the NTSB and FAA.
  • The close call highlights ongoing concerns about air traffic control operations and staffing shortages at US airports, following a series of similar incidents.

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