NTSB head says aircraft 'close calls' are on the rise and airlines are 'stressed'

• The head of the NTSB said airplane "close calls" are on the rise on ABC News "This Week."
• Jennifer Homendy, the board chair, said the FAA needs to "take action" and get airports better technology.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board said that "close calls" between airplanes are on the rise and that the Federal Aviation Administration needs to "take action."

Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, said that the board is "very concerned" about the rise in airplane close calls in an interview on ABC News "This Week" on Sunday. In December 2022, six close-call incidents were reported between airplanes, according to the FAA.

When asked by anchor Martha Raddatz if "very close calls" are " on the rise," Homendy responded that they "are on the rise."

"The FAA needs to take action," Homendy said.

Homendy said that the NTSB held a forum in 2017 that found there were 1,300 reports of "runway incursions that year, now, we're over 1,600."

"Five, six years ago we called for better technology at airports," Memendy said. "Technology that would notify air traffic control, technology that would notify pilots that there was a potential incursion. One of those recommendations has been open for 23 years. The FAA needs to take action."