FAA to Hold Safety Meetings at 90 Airports “after a series of troubling close-call aviation incidents”

By B.N. Frank

Warnings about 5G causing dangerous aviation interference issues have been ongoing for years (see 1, 2, 3). These issues have still NOT been resolved, which has led to additional warnings about the potential for flight delays and cancellations as well as worrisome “incidents.”

From Yahoo via Reuters:

US FAA holding runway safety meetings after close-call incidents

David Shepardson

Southwest airlines flight lands in San Diego as 5G talks continue

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it will hold runway safety meetings at 90 airports over the next few weeks after a series of troubling close-call aviation incidents.

Earlier this month, the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they were investigating a near collision between a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a Cessna Citation 560X business jet in San Diego.

The NTSB is investigating seven runway incursion events since January, including the San Diego incident.

In March, the FAA said it was taking steps to improve its air traffic control operations after near-miss incidents, telling employees: “There is no question that we are seeing too many close calls.”

At the “Runway Safety Action Team” meetings taking place through the end of September, the FAA said representatives from the FAA’s air traffic organization, airlines, pilots, airport vehicle drivers and others will “come together to identify unique risks to surface safety at that airport and develop plans to mitigate or eliminate those risks.”

The FAA has been without a permanent administrator since April 2022. President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the agency Phil Washington withdrew in March and the White House has yet to pick a new nominee.

Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg since June has been serving as acting FAA administrator in addition to her USDOT duties.

The FAA said its preliminary review of the Aug. 11 incident showed an air traffic controller at San Diego International Airport cleared the Cessna to land even though Southwest Airlines Flight 2493 had already been told to taxi onto the same runway and await instructions to depart.

A similar near-collision incident occurred in February in Austin, Texas, when a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest Boeing 737 came within about 115 feet (35 meters) in poor visibility conditions. The controller had cleared the FedEx plane to land and the Southwest plane to depart.

The FAA held a safety summit and issued a safety alert in March to airlines, pilots and others citing the “need for continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Bernadette Baum)

Of course 5G interference issues are not isolated to aviation equipment. In 2020, utility companies and associations filed lawsuits against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for not protecting utility infrastructure from potential electrical interference issues with 5G (see 1, 2). In June 2022, telecom provider, SpaceX claimed Dish’s 5G satellites would cause interference issues affecting Starlink satellite service. In July 2022, DirecTV and RS Submit warned about satellite interference issues and The Department of Defense (DoD) reported it also had been trying to resolve potential 5G network interference issues with military radar. In August 2022, a bi-partisan group of senators requested that the FCC reconsider harmful interference risks with associated Ligado’s network before allowing it to be activated. Fortunately the following month, Ligado cancelled trial network plans, perhaps because of a report that also warned about interference. In October 2022, another report revealed that the telecom industry was aware of “known RF challenges” with 5G as well.

Other issues associated with 5G include poor service (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and cybersecurity risks (see 1, 2). Additionally, a growing number of Americans – including Hollywood celebrities – don’t want 5G towers and antennas installed in or near their communities due to numerous problems associated with them (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16).

Opposition to 5G is worldwide and this has limited, slowed, and/or stopped deployment in some locations. Since 2017, doctors and scientists have been asking for moratoriums on Earth and in space due to biological and environmental health risks (see 1, 2, 3, 4) and the majority of scientists oppose deployment. Since 2018 there have been accounts reported worldwide of people and animals experiencing symptoms and illnesses after it was activated (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6, 7, 8 ). In 2019, telecom executives gave U.S. congressional testimony that they had NO indpendent scientific evidence that it’s safe. In 2021, a federal court ruled in favor of petitioners who sued the FCC for NOT updating wireless radiation guidelines (including 5G) since 1996. Now two years later – the agency has still done nothing to address this! Some researchers have also warned that 5G activation may contribute to COVID-19 infections as well as hundreds of thousands if not millions of bird deaths.