ARLINGTON, Va. — Two jets trying to take off from Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport nearly collided on Thursday.
The incident is being called a “near miss,” WRC reported.
A JetBlue flight was preparing for takeoff at about 7:40 a.m. Thursday when an air traffic controller told Southwest Flight 2937 to cross Runway 4, the same runway that JetBlue Flight 1554 was starting to take off from, the Federal Aviation Administration said, according to multiple reports.
A controller can be heard yelling “Stop! Southwest 2937 stop!” in audio shared on YouTube by VASAviation.
WTOP reported that the jets came within 400 feet of each other. The Southwest flight had entered the “hold short line.”
One controller was responsible for the airport runways while the other was in charge of taxiing planes, CNN reported.
The JetBlue flight was bound for Boston while the Southwest one was headed to Orlando, Florida.
The flights taxied to different runways and were able to depart shortly after the incident, WTOP reported.
“Do you have room to get around the Southwest or even double back on Runway 4 full length?” a controller asked the JetBlue pilot, who responded, “Looks like we can make a left on Alpha, JetBlue 1554,” CNN reported. The JetBlue plane was inspected and then left for Boston’s Logan Airport, the company said.
The Southwest plane continued across Runway 4 to a second runway and took off as scheduled.
The FAA is investigating, WRC reported.