An Alaska Airlines plane narrowly averted a tragedy at the Nashville International Airport on Thursday morning. It was on course to collide with a Southwest Airlines flight due to an error, but the pilots pushed the brakes just at the right time, blowing out their own tyres.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the incident happened at 9:15 am. The Alaska Airlines Flight 369 was about to take off, and right at that moment a Southwest Airlines plane was crossing the same runway.
As the 737 Max 9 taxied started to pick up pace, the pilots of the Alaska plane saw the Southwest flight crossing the same runway.
According to Flightradar24, the moment the brakes were pulled by the pilots of the Alaska Airlines plane, it was travelling at a speed of 120 mph. The flight was given clearance from air traffic control, the airline said.
The Southwest Airlines plane was supposed to fly to Jacksonville, Florida, and FAA says, that it was also cleared to cross the runway.
The matter is now under investigation as the incident could have resulted in a major accident.
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said at a briefing, “We are clearly very concerned about this (incident) and others we are investigating.”
Alaska Air issued a statement, clarifying that the plane had received the OK to take off.
“We have an update to pass along involving an incident this morning at Nashville International Airport. Alaska Airlines Flight 369 aborted takeoff due to a potential traffic conflict on the runway,” it wrote on its X handle.
“The Alaska aircraft, on its way to Seattle, had received clearance to takeoff from Air Traffic Control.”
The airline also praised its pilots for avoiding a major tragedy.
“We’re grateful for the expertise of our pilots who immediately applied the brakes to prevent the incident from escalating,” it added.
“Our pilots train for these situations and they handled the situation expertly.”
The tyres of the airplane, carrying 176 passengers and six crew members, burst due to the built-up heat. “The crew taxied the aircraft off the runway and close to the terminal where the tires deflated due to buildup from the rapid stop on the runway, as designed.”
The airline also informed that the passengers were transported to another plane and flew to Seattle.
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