FAA is turning to AI to reduce the number of close calls between planes at the nation’s airports

Source Domain: ca.news.yahoo.com

The Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an artificial intelligence initiative to reduce close calls on airport runways as recent incidents have sparked fears among fliers.

The FAA’s deal with software giant Palantir Technologies involves using an AI tool called Foundry to analyze hundreds of thousands of records from government agencies and other sources, according to Politico.

“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.”

Neither the FAA nor Palantir immediately returned Saturday inquiries from The Independent, and Politico said Palantir didn’t comment when contacted.

But 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.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is spending nearly $4 million on an artificial intelligence project with Palantir to reduce close calls on airport runways, like those seen here at Newark Airport in New Jersey, on March 23, 2026 (AFP/Getty)

Worries about aviation safety have been fueled by a series of accidents and near-misses at or near U.S. airports.

They 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 and a bread truck before landing at New Jersey’s Newark Airport on May 3.

Late 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.

The company’s Foundry tool is reportedly being used to analyze information about runway incursions, which the FAA describes as any airport incident “involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person.”

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