A close call between an American Airlines Boeing 777 and a Delta Boeing 737 aircraft was reported to have occurred at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on January 13, 2023.
An event that nearly resulted in a tragedy
A Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 (registration N914DU) was departing for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, when an American Airlines Boeing 777 (registration N754AN) crossed the same runway. An air traffic controller noticed the American Airlines Boeing 777 jet and forced Delta Air Lines flight DL1943 to abort take-off. The initial report of the incident came from JonNYC via Twitter, according to View from the Wing.
A recording from LiveATC.net revealed an air traffic controller instructing DL1943 to abort take-off. The air traffic controller yelled, “Delta 1943 cancel takeoff clearance”. Subsequently, the Delta Boeing 737 aborted the take-off within two seconds and cleared the runway.
Meanwhile, American Airlines flight AA106, which was scheduled to fly to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), appeared to have not had clearance to cross that runway. According to recordings by air traffic control, the Boeing 777 aircraft was supposed to depart from runway 4L but was holding short runway 31L.
Simple Flying has asked American Airlines and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a comment.
The American Airlines Boeing 777 bound for London Heathrow Airport, in the United Kingdom, took off 20 minutes after the incident occurred. Meanwhile, after aborting its take-off, Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 returned to the gate.
According to passenger Brian Healy, flight DL1493 between New York JFK Airport and Santo Domingo took off 15 hours later.
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Rare occurrence
For a safe take-off and landing, pilots must maintain ongoing communication with air traffic controllers and ground crews to avoid a disastrous runway accident.
It is worth noting that runway incidents and accidents may be attributed to a variety of causes, such as pilot or air traffic control error, inadequate runway maintenance, unauthorized movement, and technical malfunction. But while runway collisions are extremely rare, they do still happen occasionally.
The latest runway incident was reported in September 2022, when a Korean Air plane’s winglet came into contact with an Icelandair Boeing 757's tail rudder at London Heathrow Airport, the UK. Although this was labeled as a "minor incident", it was still considered a serious incident.
Meanwhile, the deadliest runway accident happened when two Boeing 747 aircraft crashed on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in 1977. The KLM aircraft, as it began its takeoff, collided with the Pan Am aircraft that remained on the runway, leading to the loss of 583 lives.
Sources: LiveATC.net; View from the Wing; JonNYC