An American Airlines jet was forced to abort its landing to avoid another aircraft flying in the same area in Virginia.
American Airlines Flight 2246 was requested by air traffic control to delay landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Va. “to allow another aircraft more time for take off” at around 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, the airline announced in a statement to PEOPLE.
The airline noted that the jet later “landed safely and normally at DCA after it was instructed by Air Traffic Control to complete a standard go-around.”
The Federal Aviation Administration also confirmed the incident in a statement to PEOPLE, saying that the instruction was ordered “to ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway.”
American Airlines said that the company follows a “no-fault go-around policy” and assured that this was “not an abnormal flight maneuver” in the National Airspace System, per their statement.
“It’s a tool in both the pilot’s and air traffic controller’s toolbox to help maintain safe and efficient flight operations,” the company said.
The FAA said in their statement to PEOPLE that the “routine maneuver [is] performed at the discretion of a pilot or an air traffic controller,” adding that “the pilot and the air traffic controller are in full command of the situation.”
The news comes less than a month after an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter’s fatal collision at the same airport.
Speaking to the New York Times about Tuesday’s incident, passenger Itai Vardi recalled to the “Obviously, because of the [Jan. 29] crash, I was wondering if I should look out for helicopters, then all of sudden this happened. There was nothing gradual about it. It felt like the pilot had to make an emergency maneuver.”
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The incident came approximately 90 minutes before another similar incident at Midway airport in Chicago on the same day.
Southwest Flight 2504 made brief contact with the tarmac while landing before accelerating back up into the sky to avoid colliding with a private jet in its path on the runway.
Southwest did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment at the time. The airline told CNN, “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”
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