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Two United Airlines flights experienced close calls at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on December 12, raising concerns about air traffic control staffing in the United States. Both flights were inbound from New York City airports and had to perform 'go-arounds' due to other aircraft occupying their runways during landing attempts.
The first incident involved United Airlines flight UA1857 from New York La Guardia. Passenger Nicole Loftus described the unsettling experience to ABC 7 News: "We were literally right over the runway, about to touch down, and, all of a sudden, the plane roared its engines, and we went tilted up to come back up off the ground." The second incident occurred with United Airlines flight UA546 from Newark Liberty International Airport just 12 hours later.
United Airlines conducted an interim investigation that confirmed these near misses resulted from other aircraft still exiting the runways. The airline attributed responsibility to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for managing ground operations effectively.
