American Airlines flight discontinues landing to avoid departing plane at Washington National

An American Airlines plane arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport discontinued its landing, performing a go-around at an air traffic controller’s instruction to avoid getting too close to another aircraft departing from the same runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The maneuver involving American Flight 2246 from Boston happened about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, less than two hours before Southwest Flight 2504 from Omaha, Nebraska, attempting to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport, was forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway. Southwest and American airlines both issued statements saying that their flights landed safely after their crews made precautionary go-around maneuvers. The Southwest pilots had to act quickly themselves to avoid the other plane while the incident at Reagan was more routine with pilots following the tower's instructions. Aviation experts said these kinds of moves are not entirely uncommon on commercial flights for various reasons, from bad weather to a deer walking on the runway. Pilots can execute a go-around maneuver without much notice from passengers if the plane is still flying high enough on its approach.<br/>