Passenger plane departing from the international airport Kennedy needed to make an abrupt stop Friday night after one other plane crossed the runway on its way 1,000 feet ahead, in line with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The departing plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Delta Air Lines, was because of take off around 8:45 p.m. when a Boeing 777 operated by American Airlines crossed the runway ahead of it, the FAA said.
Delta flight 1943 “stopped safely” after air traffic controllers spotted a second plane, the agency said.
American Airlines Flight 106 “flew over from an adjoining taxiway,” the FAA said. The agency said it was investigating and that details about what happened was “preliminary”.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Kennedy, declined to comment and deferred inquiries to the FAA
Flight 1943 in line with Flight Aware, which tracks flights, it often flies from Kennedy to the Dominican Republic. american airlines Flight 106 often flies from Kennedy to London.
In Twitter audio clip posted by Ross Feinstein, a former spokesman for American Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration, air traffic controllers could be heard instructing the Delta crew to cancel takeoff.
One of the controllers then appears to inform the crew members of the American Airlines flight that they were purported to be on a special runway.
Mr Feinstein said such close collisions were extremely rare on runways.
“Flying is safer than walking,” Mr Feinstein said Sunday. “It’s due to regulatory bodies now we have. Thanks to the airlines. Thanks to the pilots. It’s all of them.
In a press release, Delta said it was assisting authorities with a “full review” of the flight, which was carrying 145 passengers and 6 crew members.
After aborting takeoff, the crew turned the plane back to the gate where passengers disembarked, the airline said, adding that the flight had been delayed overnight.
“The safety of our customers and crew is all the time Delta’s top priority,” said Delta. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delays of their journey.”
American didn’t say what number of were on board his plane. The airline declined to comment on Sunday, saying in an email that it will refer the matter to the FAA
