A near-miss between an American Airlines jet and an American Eagle regional aircraft occurred on Thursday, when one flight mistakenly believed it had runway clearance, while a Boeing 737 was on its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The incident, which occurred around 7:00 PM on Thursday, forced the American aircraft to complete a go-around.

As first reported by View From The Wing, the incident occurred when there was a mistaken clearance for American flight 4752 to enter runway 1, at the same time as inbound flight 3101 was coming into land after a nonstop flight from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).

A Near-Miss Between Two American Airlines Aircraft At Washington National

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According to VFTW, this incident occurred as American flight 4702 was given clearance to enter Runway 4 for its flight to New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The aircraft accepted its clearance from air traffic control; however, at the same time, the aircraft with a flight number of American 4752 to Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU) mistakenly accepted that message as clearance for itself to enter Runway 1.

As the regional flight to Raleigh entered the runway, this came directly into the path of the American flight 3101, a Boeing 737-800 airplane that was arriving from Texas. As shared by Aviation Circle on Facebook, the 737 shared the message to the tower, explaining, “Tower, there’s an airplane on Runway 1”.

This close call was quickly identified by the tower, which instructed the Boeing to complete a go-around. The aircraft was to divert away from the airport promptly, and after a brief go-around above the skies of the US capital, the plane was able to safely land minutes later with no reported injuries onboard.

American Eagle Aircraft Mistakenly Took Itself To Have Clearance

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The main cause of this near-miss was the mistaken clearance that was taken by flight 4752, an American Eagle service onboard an Embraer 175LR aircraft. The plane had been waiting for its turn to enter the runway when the pilots incorrectly took the clearance for flight 4702 as its own.

The prompt actions from the incoming 737 service and communication to and from the tower enabled the larger aircraft to swiftly divert away. For the American Eagle flight operated by Republic Airways, its mistaken clearance meant it was not authorized to enter the Runway. At the closest point, Flightradar24 data shows the inbound aircraft was about 725 feet (220 meters) above the ground.

While flight 3101 completed its go-around, both the other two regional jets were able to safely depart, and the incoming 737 was able to land safely with no major disruption to its service.

Aircraft Involved: Two Embraer E175, And One Boeing 737-800

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Of the three planes involved in the incident, the two aircraft on the ground at Washington National were N415YX and N122HQ, both operated by Republic. Data from ch-aviation identifies AA4752, which mistakenly entered Runway 1 without the necessary clearance, as an 18.7-year-old 175LR, which has operated for the airline subsidiary since December 2007.

For the incoming 737-800, this plane had registration N983NN and was arriving from Dallas/Fort Worth. The plane has been operating for just over ten years since its delivery in December 2015.

This near-miss, in this instance, is not at the fault of air traffic controllers, and while a further investigation into the event is likely, it was probably a case of mistaken identity by the pilots in control of flight 4752, at one of the country’s busiest airports.