Late Saturday afternoon, March 18, two Southwest Airlines jets were pushed into last-second evasive moves north of Nashville International Airport after an air-traffic instruction briefly put one plane in the path of the other. Pilots on both aircraft followed onboard collision-avoidance alerts and averted a crash, and there were no reported injuries.
A review of tower recordings and flight-tracking data shows the incident involved Southwest Flight 507, a Boeing 737 Max 8 from Myrtle Beach that had just executed a go-around, and Southwest Flight 1152, a Boeing 737-700 departing for Knoxville from Runway 2R. As reported by NewsChannel 5, the controller instructed Flight 507 to turn right and then climb, while telling Flight 1152 to hold at 2,000 feet, a combination of commands that briefly put both jets on converging tracks.
On the tower frequency, the controller can be heard saying, "he's already in the turn," with Flight 1152 responding, "We're already past it." NewsChannel 5 reports that both flightcrews then received Resolution Alerts from their Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) and carried out the vertical maneuvers the system commanded.
How Collision-Avoidance Systems Stepped In
TCAS first issues a traffic alert to the flightcrew and, if the system calculates that a collision risk is building, follows up with a Resolution Advisory that gives a specific climb or descend command to avoid the other aircraft. The FAA notes that these RAs operate independently of air-traffic control and are designed as a last line of defense, with pilots trained to "fly the RA" first and then inform controllers afterward. FAA
Nashville's Recent Close Calls
The March 18 close call joins a growing list of safety scares at BNA, including a 2024 incident in which an Alaska Airlines 737 aborted its takeoff to avoid a Southwest jet, an episode that drew scrutiny from both the FAA and the NTSB. Aviation watchers and local reporters say these repeated near misses at busy airports have fueled renewed calls for better tower technology and more staffing in the cab. Live and Let's Fly
What Comes Next
NewsChannel 5 reports that it has asked the FAA for comment and that the incident remains under review. In similar cases, the agency analyzes ATC audio and the airlines' flight data, and its guidance (InFO 08039) stresses that an immediate and correct response to a TCAS Resolution Advisory is the top priority for flightcrews. FAA InFO 08039
