There was another close call at Washington National Airport (DCA) on Wednesday after an American Airlines A319 was ordered to abort takeoff in order to avoid crashing into a landing private aircraft.
Another Near-Miss At DCA: American Airlines A319 Slams On Breaks To Avoid Hitting Another Jet
Last month, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and JetBlue Embraer E190 near collided at DCA:
In that incident, the two aircraft were ordered to stop and came to a halt just 400 feet apart.
On Wednesday, May 29, 2024 another incident occurred, this one involving an American Airlines Airbus A319 (registration number N812AW) operating as American Airlines Flight 2134 to Boston (BOS) and a King Air private turboprop aircraft.
The AA A319 had spooled up for takeoff and reached speeds of 100 miles per hour before ATC noticed that the King Air plane had landed on an intersecting runway:
ATC Tower: “American 2134 cancel takeoff clearance. [inaudible] zero, alpha, alpha, go around, go around.”
American: “Rejecting the takeoff 2134.”
King Air: “Zero alpha alpha, cannot go around, we are already on the ground.”
ATC Tower: “American 2134 do you want to go back to the gate?”
American: “We need to talk to maintenance, but yeah, I think we were above 80 knots so we’re going to have to get an inspection.”
Because it had reached high speeds, the American Airlines plane had to return to the gate, where maintenance crews spent several hours inspecting the aircraft. The flight finally took off 2:35 pm, 4.5 hours after the scheduled departure.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating.
American Airlines added:
“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we’re grateful to our crew for their professionalism. We will support the FAA in its investigation.”
CONCLUSION
Another near-miss incident occurred at DCA yesterday, this time between an American Airlines A319 and a small private plane. Thankfully, no one was hurt, though this could have turned out far differently had the American Airlines pilots not slammed on the brakes in time.
image: Charles / Flickr