A close call at Kennedy International Airport Friday night in which an American Airlines plane crossed a runway ahead of an oncoming Delta Air Lines plane appeared to have occurred when American Airlines pilots misinterpreted air traffic controller directions, radar records and recordings from that show.
Delta’s Flight 1943, bound for the Dominican Republic, was forced to abort takeoff. None of the 145 passengers were injured.
The American Airlines flight 106, bound for London with 137 passengers on board, was traveling down a taxiway at about 8:45 p.m. both the Transportation Security Administration and American Airlines who said he reviewed publicly available radar and recordings.
The Delta aircraft was waiting for takeoff on runway 4 on the left, which is intersected by runway 31 on the left.
An air traffic controller can be heard telling the American plane, a Boeing 777, to “cross runway 31 on the left”, which requires it to turn right before lining up for departure on runway 4 on the left behind the Delta plane.
The American pilot confirms: “Cross 31 Left.”
Another air traffic controller tells Delta’s plane, a Boeing 737, that it is ready for takeoff. The Delta pilot confirms, “Ready for takeoff, runway 4 left, Delta 1943.”
But the U.S. flight, instead of turning right to cross runway 31 on the left, jogged left, then right and went straight on runway 4 on the left as the Delta plane began its takeoff, the radar shows, according to mr. Feinstein.
An air traffic controller in an audio clip can be heard pronounce a four-letter word. One controller commands the American plane, “Hold position!” and another controller says twice quickly, “Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!”
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Sunday that the Delta plane came to a “safe stop” about 300 meters from where the U.S. flight had crossed the runway.
On the audio recordings, after the Delta pilot confirms that he is aborting the takeoff, a Kennedy controller tells the American pilots, “possible pilot deviation”.
One of the American pilots tries to understand what happened by asking the tower, “Last time we got clearance, we were ready to cross, is that right?”
The controller replies that the US aircraft was indeed cleared to cross, but it was cleared to cross runway 31 on the left and proceed to the start of runway 4 on the left for departure, instead of crossing runway 4 on the left and make your way to the start of runway 31 on the left.
“You would leave runway 4 on the left,” says the air traffic controller. “You are currently 31 links short.”
The FAA said the unfolding — and averted — disaster was spotted using a system that detects and displays the movement of aircraft and vehicles on runways and taxiways at Kennedy and about three dozen other U.S. airports, using radar and motion sensors. .
It declined to provide more details about the episode, which is unrelated to a nationwide issue two days earlier that saw thousands of flights delayed after a system the FAA uses to send safety alerts to pilots went down.
After aborting takeoff, the Delta plane returned to the gate, passengers disembarked and the flight was delayed overnight, Delta said. “The safety of our customers and crew is always Delta’s #1 priority,” the airline said in a statement Sunday. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travel.”
The airline declined to comment on Sunday and said in an email it would defer to the FAA
The American flight continued to Heathrow Airport. It arrived 13 minutes early.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it had launched an investigation and would be taking statements from flight crews, collecting flight recorder information and reviewing data from air traffic control and expected to issue a preliminary report within weeks.
However, flight recorder information from the American Airlines cockpit may not be available: the devices only retain two hours of recordings, and the flight from New York to London takes seven hours. The Security Council has for years urged the FAA to require a 25-hour recording capacity, noting in a 2018 report that “unfortunately, recent safety investigations have been hampered because relevant portions of the recordings were overwritten.”
Mr. Feinstein noted that federal regulations require aircraft operators to notify the Security Council immediately in the event of a “runway incursion” such as Friday’s.
“Probably part of the investigation that the NTSB will look into is why the plane decided to depart and whether there were any appropriate reports,” he said.
Mr Feinstein said Friday’s incident was the closest he had come to such a phone call at a US airport since 2017, when an Air Canada plane landing in San Francisco hit the ground within a few feet of an aircraft. hit.
“This is very uncommon in the US,” he said, “but the reason it’s taken so seriously is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
