A passenger plane flying out of Kennedy International Airport had to bring its takeoff to an abrupt halt on Friday night after another crossed the runway in its path 1,000 feet ahead, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The departing plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Delta Air Lines, was about to take off around 8:45 p.m. when a Boeing 777 operated by American Airlines crossed the runway ahead of it, the F.A.A. said.
The Delta plane, Flight 1943, came to a “safe stop” after air traffic controllers noticed the other plane, the agency said.
The American Airlines plane, Flight 106, had “crossed from an adjacent taxiway,” the F.A.A. said. The agency said it was investigating and that information about what happened was “preliminary.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages Kennedy, declined to comment and deferred questions to the F.A.A.
Flight 1943 typically flies from Kennedy to the Dominican Republic, according to the flight-tracking site Flight Aware. American Airlines Flight 106 typically flies from Kennedy to London.
In an audio clip on Twitter posted by Ross Feinstein, a former spokesman for American Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration, air traffic controllers can be heard instructing the Delta crew to cancel takeoff.
One of the controllers then appears to tell the crew members of the American Airlines flight that they were supposed to be on a different runway.
Mr. Feinstein said it was exceedingly rare for such near collisions to occur on runways.
“Flying is safer than walking,” Mr. Feinstein said on Sunday. “It’s because of the regulators that we have. It’s because of the airlines. It’s because of the pilots. It’s all of them.”
In a statement, Delta said that it was helping the authorities with a “full review” of the flight, which was carrying 145 passengers and six crew members.
After aborting the takeoff, the crew returned the plane to the gate, where passengers disembarked, the airline said, adding that the flight was then delayed overnight.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always Delta’s number one priority,” Delta said. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels.”
American did not say how many were aboard its flight. The airline declined to comment on Sunday, saying in an email that it would defer to the F.A.A.
Credit: Source link
