Two Southwest Airlines planes nearly collided over Nashville on Saturday after an air traffic controller directed one pilot to turn directly into the path of a departing aircraft. Both flight crews received alerts from their collision avoidance systems and took evasive action — one climbing while the other descended — to prevent impact, according to air traffic control audio and a Federal Aviation Administration statement.
The incident highlights ongoing aviation safety concerns, coming months after an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C. in January 2025, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
The Incident
The incident unfolded around 5:30 p.m. when the pilot of one Southwest flight aborted landing at Nashville International Airport due to gusty winds. Location data from aircraft transponders shows the flight paths converging after the go-around, with the air traffic controller directing the climbing plane to turn toward the path of a Southwest flight that had just departed from a parallel runway.
Both pilots reported receiving collision avoidance system alerts — automated warnings that appear on flight displays when aircraft are on a converging course. The alerts directed one plane to climb and the other to descend.
By the time the controller recognized the threat and tried to direct the plane that had just taken off to stay below 2,000 feet, the pilot reported he was already above that level, according to the AP’s account of controller communications.
FlightRadar24 data, which tracks aircraft positions using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast signals, shows the planes appearing to come as close as approximately 500 feet apart, though the exact minimum distance may not be confirmed until after the FAA’s investigation is complete.
Official Response
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the pilot of Southwest Flight 507 “received instructions from air traffic control that put the flight in the path of another airplane that was departing from a parallel runway. Both flight crews responded to onboard alerts.”
The FAA did not initially disclose the minimum separation distance in its public statement.
Southwest Airlines spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said in a statement that both pilots “followed the directions from the air traffic controller and their onboard collision avoidance systems to avoid running into each other.”
“Southwest appreciates the professionalism of its pilots and flight crews in responding to the event,” Lunsford said. “Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
The FAA is investigating the incident. The agency has not identified which air traffic control facility directed the maneuvers.
Broader Context
Midair collisions involving commercial aircraft equipped with modern collision avoidance systems remain rare, but the Nashville near-miss comes as the aviation industry confronts persistent concerns about airspace safety.
In January 2025, an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. That crash focused national attention on midair-collision risks and the aging infrastructure of U.S. air traffic control.
Most documented near-miss incidents and collisions involve small aircraft that lack collision avoidance technology. The FAA has not provided publicly available statistics on the annual frequency of near-midair collision events, though multiple such incidents are reported each year.