Imminent disaster was forewarned before Tuesday collision of two Delta planes on runway in Atlanta

The collision of two Delta airlines planes on Tuesday at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta was an accident waiting to happen. 

Enough close-calls had occurred at commercial airports since January 2023 to raise the alarm of the U.S. Transportation Department's Office of the Inspector General, which initiated an audit of runway incursions in July 2023. The FAA defines a "runway incursion" as "any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft."

According to the audit announcement on the FAA’s "efforts to prevent and mitigate runway incursions at commercial airports," there had been a series of incidents where aircraft came "dangerously close to each other on runways, including incidents at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport" since January 2023. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was not on the FAA's audit list. 

"FAA has classified these incidents as serious category A and B runway incursions and, with the recent uptick in these close calls at commercial airports, there has been increased scrutiny on FAA and the aviation industry to address this critical safety issue," read the audit memorandum authored by Nelda Z. Smith, the assistant inspector general for aviation audits.

It is unclear if that audit has been completed, or what corrective steps have been taken since it was issued last year.

Incursion events on runways are nothing new, and can put hundreds of lives in jeopardy at any moment. 

According to Business Traveler, on the Spanish island of Tenerife in March 27, 1977, "Pan Am flight 1736 (a Boeing 747) and KLM4805, (also a Boeing 747) collided on runway 12, killing 583 passengers and crew. It was learned, however, that KLM4805 departed runway 12 without a takeoff clearance and then collided with PAA1736 as it was taxiing on the same runway during a time of poor visibility due to weather."

In November of 2023, Timothy Arel, chief operating officer of the Air Traffic Organization, a division of the FAA, testified at a Senate hearing focused on "addressing close calls to improve aviation safety."

During the hearing, Arel outlined several actions the FAA had taken to "enhance flight safety and reduce incursions." Arel told lawmakers that the FAA would "doggedly press for continued collaboration with industry to further enhance safety initiatives and technologies to reduce runway incursions with the goal of eliminating them."

According to a Politico analysis of aviation data published in May 2024, 2023 had the most "near-collisions" among commercial jets in 7 years and that summer accounting for almost half of the incidents.

The report found that the reanimated demand for air travel since the end of the COVID pandemic has contributed to the amount of near collisions on runways. Bridgett Frey, the FAA’s communications assistant administrator, said at the time of the analysis 4 months ago that the aviation industry and the FAA were working toward a “goal of zero serious close calls.”