Federal investigators say an air traffic controller cleared a plane to take off from Sarasota, Florida, while an American Airlines jet was making its final approach to the same runway last month, leading the American pilots to abandon their landing.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that the American and Air Canada Rouge planes were separated by six-tenths of a mile—about 3,000 feet (900 meters)—at their closest point. That is much farther apart than planes in several recent close calls.
