A close call at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday afternoon forced an American Airlines‑operated regional jet and an Air Canada Express flight to abort their landings after coming within a few hundred feet of one another, according to multiple U.S. outlets.
The incident unfolded around 2:30 p.m., when Republic Airways Flight 4464, operating as American Airlines, veered off its assigned approach path toward Runway 31L.
At the same time, Jazz Aviation Flight 554, operating for Air Canada Express, was cleared to land on the parallel Runway 31R. Controllers urgently instructed the Air Canada crew to climb to 3,000 feet as the American jet drifted into conflicting airspace.
According to ABC7, controllers issued immediate commands as both aircraft received resolution advisories, the onboard collision‑avoidance alerts that trigger when two planes come too close. Pilots from both flights acknowledged the warnings and immediately initiated go‑arounds.
Preliminary data reviewed by U.S. aviation media shows the aircraft came within roughly 350 feet vertically and less than a kilometre horizontally before separating. Both planes later circled back and landed safely.
“On approach into New York (JFK), Flight 8554 en route from Toronto (YYZ), the flight crew received a traffic warning notification and resolution as well as direction from ATC, and the crew took immediate action,” an Air Canada spokesperson said in an email to CityNews. “Safety is our top priority, and our crews are well-trained to deal with many operational situations such as this. The flight landed safely at JFK.”
The near-miss comes just one month after a deadly runway collision at LaGuardia Airport involving an Air Canada Express jet and a fire truck.