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American Airlines Flight Forced To Abort Landing To Prevent Collision With Departing Aircraft at Reagan National Airport

February 26, 2025

Nicholas Morine

It may or may not have been a close call, depending on whose account you listen to, as American Airlines Flight 2246 was forced to conduct a “go-around” in order to prevent a potential mishap involving a departure from the same runway at Reagan International Airport in Arlington, Virginia. The flight originated in Boston.

American Airlines Responds to Sudden Landing Abortion

According to CNN, the incident took place early in the morning of Feb. 25, as Flight 2246 was engaged in its descent to the runway. As quoted by The New York Times, a passenger aboard that American Airlines flight — Itai Vardi — described the situation in alarming detail.

Vardi said that the flight appeared to be less than a minute from landing as he watched the plane approach the runway from his window. Then, without warning, the plane engaged in a sharp and sudden ascent.

“Obviously, because of the [Potomac River] crash, I was wondering if I should look out for helicopters, then all of a sudden this happened,” Vardi said. “There was nothing gradual about it. It felt like the pilot had to make an emergency maneuver.”

For its part, per CBS News, American Airlines described the go-around as standard, denying any further claims to the contrary.

“American has a no-fault go-around policy as a go-around is not an abnormal flight maneuver and can occur nearly every day in the National Airspace System,” the airline declared in a statement.

“It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations, and any assertion that flight 2246’s canceled approach was more than that is inaccurate,” the statement continued.

“An air traffic controller instructed American Flight 2246 to perform a go-around at Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA) Airport to ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway,” a representative from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated.

Flight 2246 would later land safely, with no injuries reported.

Southwest Airlines Flight Aborts Landing in Chicago Only 90 Minutes Later

In a similar scenario occurring just 90 minutes later, Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 from Omaha was forced to abort its landing after a private business jet began taxiing across its target runway. The Southwest jet immediately began an ascent, aborting landing, flying just 250 feet over the business jet, as CBS News indicated.

Southwest officials described the maneuver as “a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway,” according to the news outlet.

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