U.S. cannot wait for next ‘catastrophic’ event to address close call incidents — officials

McLEAN, Virginia (Reuters) – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday the United States cannot wait for the next “catastrophic event” to address an uptick in aviation close calls that sparked alarm.

The Federal Aviation Administration is holding a safety summit on Wednesday outside Washington with airlines, unions, airports and others after numerous recent near miss incidents have raised safety concerns.

“There have been far too many close calls,” National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy said at the summit. “These recent incidents must serve as a wakeup call.”