The Federal Aviation Administration is at the moment investigating a Wednesday morning near-collision between an American Airways airplane and one other plane on the runway of Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport in Virginia, in response to the FAA.
“An air visitors controller cancelled the takeoff clearance for American Airways flight 2134 as a result of one other plane was cleared to land on an intersecting runway at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport,” the FAA mentioned.
The American Airways Airbus A319 was sure for Boston’s Logan Worldwide Airport and already touring at a velocity of round 92 miles per hour when the pilot was instructed to stop takeoff.
In an audio recording shared by NBC News, air visitors management is heard saying, “American 2134 cancel takeoff clearance … zero, alpha, alpha, go round, go round.”
“Rejecting the takeoff, 2134,” the American Airways pilot mentioned.
“And 0, alpha, alpha, can’t go round, we’re already on the bottom,” the opposite pilot, who was flying a King Air airplane, mentioned.
The air visitors controller mentioned the American Airways plane would must be resequenced and requested if the American Airways pilot needed to “return to the gate.”
“We have to speak to upkeep, however yeah, I believe we had been above 80 knots (92 miles) so we’re going to need to get an inspection,” the American Airways pilot mentioned.
“The protection of our prospects and staff members is our high precedence, and we’re grateful to our crew for his or her professionalism,” an American Airways spokesperson instructed USA TODAY in an e-mail. “We are going to assist the FAA and NTSB of their investigations.”
AA2134 took off 4 hours after its scheduled depature time and arrived safely in Boston, in response to FlightAware.
This incident is the most recent in a sequence of near-disasters on runways. Final month, the airport skilled one other shut name when a JetBlue airplane was cleared for takeoff whereas a Southwest flight was cleared to cross the identical runway. The JetBlue started its takeoff roll when air visitors controllers began yelling for the 2 planes to cease.
Following the final incident, the FAA launched a report that discovered the air visitors management workforce to be at a excessive danger of fatigue, leading to essential security dangers. The company will quickly enhance the remainder interval for air visitors controllers from 9 to 10 hours in addition to require a minimal 12-hour relaxation interval earlier than a midnight shift.
Kathleen Wong is a journey reporter for USA TODAY primarily based in Hawaii. You’ll be able to attain her at kwong@usatoday.com.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Two planes narrowly avoid crash on runway, FAA investigating
