{"slug": "faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the", "title": "FAA is turning to AI to reduce the number of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports", "summary": "The Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an artificial intelligence initiative with Palantir Technologies to reduce close calls on airport runways. The AI tool, Foundry, will analyze hundreds of thousands of records to identify safety risks, and has already led to a ban on parallel landings at San Francisco International Airport. The funding comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and follows a series of deadly accidents and near-misses at U.S. airports.", "body_md": "# FAA is turning to AI to reduce the number of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports\n\nFederal Aviation Administration reportedly inks deal with Palantir to analyze incident data\n\n- Bookmark\n- CommentsGo to comments\n\nThe Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an [artificial intelligence initiative](/news/world/americas/ai-college-graduation-speeches-b2983739.html) to [reduce close calls on airport runways](/news/world/americas/newark-airport-alaska-airlines-crash-b2942384.html) as recent incidents have [sparked fears among fliers](/news/world/americas/airport-deadly-crashes-airplane-safety-b2980443.html).\n\nThe FAA’s deal with [software giant Palantir Technologies](/news/world/americas/us-politics/peter-thiel-argentina-billionaire-tax-b2986444.html) involves using an AI tool called Foundry to analyze hundreds of thousands of records from government agencies and other sources, according to [ Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/19/faa-ai-close-calls-00963264).\n\n“This data has always been there,” a high-ranking FAA official told *Politico* on condition of anonymity. “The problem is this data was always siloed.”\n\nNeither the FAA nor Palantir immediately returned Saturday inquiries from *The Independent*, and *Politico* said Palantir didn’t comment when contacted.\n\nBut FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau told *Politico* earlier this month that “Palantir has been a great partner for us” and that “we continue to get more refined on how we use that tool.”\n\nWorries about aviation safety have been fueled by a series of accidents and near-misses at or near U.S. airports.\n\nThey include the deadly March collision of a plane and a fire truck at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport and the plane that [struck a highway light pole](/news/world/americas/newark-airport-united-plane-runway-video-b2971009.html) and a bread truck before landing at New Jersey’s Newark Airport on May 3.\n\nLate last month, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford revealed that the agency began working with Palantir to review safety data since the January 2025 midair collision of a military helicopter and a passenger plane that killed 67 people in Washington, D.C.\n\nThe company's Foundry tool is reportedly being used to analyze information about runway incursions, which the [FAA](https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/resources/runway_incursions) describes as any airport incident “involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person.”\n\nFunding for the project came from President Donald Trump’s signature domestic spending legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the nonpartisan [Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget](https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-one-big-beautiful-bill-act) think tank has estimated will add more than $5.5 trillion to the national debt through 2034.\n\nA review of runway incursion data showed only three documented this year, with the FAA saying others were still being investigated or had yet to be added to its public database, *Politico* said.\n\nBut 2023 marked one of the worst years for airport incidents in the past decade, with the annual number more than doubling to 11 during a surge in air traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to *Politico*.\n\nUsing Foundry has reportedly already led the FAA to ban parallel landings — during which planes descend side-by-side — at California's San Francisco International Airport after the program identified unspecified safety issues.\n\nBut the AI wouldn't have been able to prevent the LaGuardia collision, which [killed two Air Canada Express pilots](/news/laguardia-airport-new-york-air-canada-montreal-national-transportation-safety-board-b2945072.html), because it's engineered to detect recurring patterns and potential risks not to predict a single event with multiple contributing factors, according to [ Politico](https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-one-big-beautiful-bill-act).\n\nRobert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said AI presented an opportunity to “enable the FAA to gain greater awareness of real and potential safety risks.”\n\n“Of course, one thing to guard against is over-reliance on AI,” he told *Politico*. “At least for the intermediate term, human involvement with such data analysis will be essential.”\n\nEarlier this week, Sumwalt’s successor, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, told reporters she recently watched an FAA demonstration of Foundry as it was “looking for hot spots across the national airspace — and it was live,” *Politico* said.\n\n“It was pretty impressive,” she said.\n\nPalantir is one of three companies vying for a $12 billion contract to use AI to help air traffic controllers reduce flight delays through a program called Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories, or SMART.\n\nLast week, [ The Air Current](https://theaircurrent.com/air-traffic-control/faa-selecting-asi-smart-ai-atc-palantir-thales/) reported that Boston-based Air Space Intelligence was expected to beat out Palantir and French defense company Thales, citing multiple people familiar with the selection process.\n\n*The Air Current *added, however, that its sources said a decision hadn't been made and it quoted an FAA spokesperson as saying that “we haven’t awarded anything yet, but look forward to awarding a contract soon.”\n\nPalantir has [inked deals with the federal government worth billions of dollars](/news/world/americas/us-politics/peter-thiel-argentina-billionaire-tax-b2986444.html), including a recent U.S. Army contract [worth up to $10 billion.](/news/world/middle-east/us-iran-war-profits-shares-companies-oil-b2972899.html)\n\nAs part of that deal, Palantir will help create a “comprehensive framework for the Army’s future software and data needs.”\n\nThe Pentagon also is relying on Palantir’s [Maven Smart System](/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-grok-ai-iran-missiles-pentagon-b2997321.html), which uses AI to collect data from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions to[ identify military targets.](/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-grok-ai-iran-missiles-pentagon-b2997321.html)\n\nThe Department of Homeland Security also entered into a five-year agreement with Palantir worth roughly $1 billion.\n\n## Join our commenting forum\n\nJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies\n\n[Comments](#comments-area)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/faa-palantir-ai-close-calls-airports-b2999690.html", "published_at": "2026-06-20 22:21:49+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-20 22:43:36.237572+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-safety", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Federal Aviation Administration", "Palantir Technologies", "Foundry", "Chris Rocheleau", "Bryan Bedford", "San Francisco International Airport", "LaGuardia Airport", "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/faa-is-turning-to-ai-to-reduce-the-number-of-close-calls-between-planes-at-the.jsonld"}}