Boeing 737-79P N7827A

Summary

On 4 February 2023 at about 12:40 local time, a Boeing 737-79P registered N7827A, operated by Southwest Airlines Co, was involved in an incident near Austin, Texas, United States. 131 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 February 2023 at 12:40

Classification

Incident

Location

Austin, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS)

Coordinates

30.1975, -97.6664

Aircraft

Boeing 737-79P

Registration

N7827A

Category

Airplane

Year built

2003

Engines

2

Operator

Southwest Airlines Co

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Cancun

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA23FA149

Nobody was injured.

the local controller’s incorrect assumption that the Southwest Airlines (SWA) airplane would depart from the runway before the Federal Express airplane arrived on the same runway, which resulted in a loss of separation between both airplanes. Contributing to the controller’s incorrect assumption were his expectation bias regarding the SWA airplane’s departure, his lack of situational awareness regarding the SWA airplane’s position when the flight crew requested takeoff clearance, and the air traffic control tower’s lack of training (before the incident) on low visibility operations. Contributing to the incident was the SWA flight crewmembers’ failure to account for the traffic that was on short final approach and to notify the controller that they would need additional time on the runway before the takeoff roll. Also contributing to the incident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to require surface detection equipment at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and direct alerting for flight crews.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.