Pilots of an American Airlines plane claim they were distracted by paperwork when they taxied into the path of a departing Delta flight last year, but avoided disaster thanks to a fast-thinking air traffic controller, according to new documents.
The London-bound American Airlines Boeing 777 crossed the runway without clearance and nearly collided with a Dominican Republic-bound Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 on January 13, 2023 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
In interviews with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the American Airlines pilots said they taxied into the wrong runway because they were distracted by last-minute paperwork
Disaster was averted when an air traffic controller swiftly stepped in and said, ‘S**t. Delta 1943 cancel takeoff clearance.’
After the incident, the air traffic controller remarked: ‘My hands are shaking, I’m in shock, like what the f**k just happened.’
A London-bound American Airlines Boeing 777 crossed the runway without clearance and nearly collided with a Dominican Republic-bound Delta Air Lines Boeing 737
The American Airlines crew took a wrong turn on a taxiway alongside two perpendicular runways.
They had first planned for a takeoff from runway 31L. However, they later got instructions from a controller and a message on their cockpit computer telling them to taxi across 31L and take off from runway 4L.
The American Airlines plane crossed 4L just as a Delta plane began its takeoff roll down the same runway.
In later interviews, ‘all three pilots (on the American Airlines plane) said they understood at that time that (the flight) would be departing runway 4L,’ according to the NTSB.
The captain, Michael Graber, said that as the plane crossed the middle of runway 4L, he saw red runway lights turn on – the lights warn pilots when it’s not safe to be on the runway.
‘I think I just got distracted with all this happening and, you know, somehow I reverted back to the 3-1 Left, said Graber.
‘All of a sudden I saw that red glow and I just – right away I said something – that ain´t right.’
Graber said, ‘I didn´t know what was happening, but I was thinking something’s wrong.’
Pilots of American Airlines plane claim they were distracted by paperwork when they taxied into the path of a departing Delta flight last year
According to investigators, the co-pilot Traci Gonzalez, said she knew the entire time they were supposed to cross runway 31L, ‘but she was unaware of the airplane´s position when the captain taxied onto runway 4L.’
‘She knew they were approaching a runway, but she did not realize they were approaching runway 4L,’ said the NTSB.
The co-pilot also blamed distractions, including an unusually high number of weather alerts.
The third person in the cockpit, Jeffrey Wagner, a relief pilot for the long international flight, said he was ‘heads down’ and didn’t know where the plane was as it taxied on to the runway.
Delta pilot Captain Wayne J. Hallem said: ‘Due to the extreme darkness of the evening, it was not until we began decelerating that I saw the American Airlines 777 crossing the runway in front of us.’
The Delta pilots were able to brake to a stop and the planes were never closer than about 1,000 feet.
The report renewed recommendations that the Federal Aviation Administration require better preservation of cockpit voice recordings, amid a slew of airplane near misses.
Six people were injured after an American Airlines flight had to make a ‘hard landing’ on Saturday.
Flight 271 took off from Los Angeles International Airport before landing in Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii just after 2 p.m. local time.
One passenger and five flight attendants had to go to hospital with minor injuries following the ‘hard landing’ – the aircraft has now been taken out of service to undergo an