JetBlue A320 Climbed To Avoid GA Airplane

The FAA is looking into an incident in which a JetBlue A320 had to climb to avoid a GA airplane over New York's Westchester County Airport Sunday.

Air traffic controllers warned the JetBlue crew of the VFR traffic about two miles southwest of the airliner, according to a report from USA Today. The crew noted the smaller aircraft and climbed to avoid a collision.

JetBlue confirmed the incident in a statement, saying "After receiving an alert regarding a potential aircraft several miles away, the pilot adjusted its approach into Westchester County Airport and landed safely." The airline also confirmed that the FAA was looking into the incident.

The paper relayed a report from WABC-TV that indicated that some of the passengers said they could hear the "whoosh" of the smaller airplane passing below the airliner.

Both of the aircraft landed safely. The FAA did not release the name of the pilot of the GA airplane.

(Image from file. Not incident aircraft)

FMI: www.faa.gov