Plane landing at LaGuardia aborts landing 100 feet above ground in near miss

This recording captures a high-workload environment at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), a facility known for its cramped layout and intense traffic volume. The incident begins routinely with Delta 468 cleared to land on Runway 22. However, the tower controller becomes heavily involved in "housekeeping" tasks, specifically guiding two general aviation aircraft (Parkway 512 and Parkway 364) toward the Modern Aviation FBO. The dialogue reveals some confusion regarding taxi routes and where passengers should be picked up, which occupies the controller's attention for nearly a minute.

The critical moment occurs when the controller suddenly realizes that the previous traffic has not cleared the runway or that a departing/crossing aircraft is still in the way. The instruction "Delta 468, go around. Traffic still on the runway" is delivered with urgency. While the transcript doesn't specify the exact altitude, the timing suggests the aircraft was on short final, likely within 100-200 feet of the ground.

In aviation, a go-around is a standard safety maneuver, but a "late" go-around initiated by the tower due to runway occupancy is considered a serious event because it indicates a breakdown in separation standards. The pilot of Delta 468 maintains professional composure, immediately executing the climb and double-checking the assigned altitude as they transition from a landing configuration to a climb.

The event highlights the challenges of "single-frequency" operations where one controller manages both the active runway and the complex taxi maneuvers of aircraft nearby. The aftermath involved Delta 468 being handed off to New York Departure to be sequenced back into the arrival flow. This incident serves as a textbook example of why pilots must remain vigilant even after receiving a landing clearance, as runway conditions can change in seconds.