A communications error almost sent four different planes to cross a runway at the same exact time.
It turns out that the move avoided tragedy.An April 17 Zurich-bound Swiss Air flight cleared for takeoff began to speed down the runway, but was forced to abort after noticing air traffic control also cleared four other planes to cross that same runway putting them on a collision course.Then, moments later, as the plane was heading down the runway, the pilot suddenly saw the other planes taxiing and aborted the takeoff.The Swiss airline praised their quick-thinking team.
"Moving four aircraft across an active runway and one controller not talking to another indicates a special level of stress and this is one of the questions here. Is this happening too much around the country?" said John Nance, Aviation Expert, ABC News contributor. This incident came just a day before another near-catastrophic close call. There was panic in the tower at Washington's Reagan National Airport as two packed planes came within 400 feet of each other.A JetBlue flight cleared for takeoff was forced to slam on its brakes after Air Traffic Control noticed they cleared a Southwest Airlines plane to taxi across the same runway.Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below.
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