Officials are investigating a close call at a New York airport Friday night between a plane that was crossing a runway and another that was preparing for takeoff.
″(Expletive)! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!” an air controller said in an audio recording of Air Traffic Control communications when he noticed the other plane, operated by American Airlines, crossing in front. The recording was made by LiveATC, a website that monitors and posts flight communications.
Delta Air Lines’ departing Boeing 737 plane then came to a safe stop on the John F. Kennedy International Airport runway as the other crossed in front around 8:45 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Brian Healy, a passenger on the Delta flight, said at first he thought the abrupt stop was a mechanical issue.
Healy, who was traveling with his husband for their winter getaway to the Dominican Republic, said it wasn’t until he was scrolling on Twitter the next day that he realized the gravity of what could have happened on that runway.
The Delta plane stopped about 1,000 feet (about 0.3 kilometers) from where the American Airlines plane had crossed from an adjacent taxiway, according to the FAA statement.
The plane returned to the gate, where the 145 passengers deplaned and were provided overnight accommodations, a Delta spokesperson said. The flight to Santa Domingo Airport in the Dominican Republic took off Saturday morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday that it will investigate.
The National Transportation Safety Board also said it was looking into the case.
American Airlines would not comment on the incident and said it would defer all questions to the FAA.
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