Silke Jasso
It was a scary weekend for JFK Airport passengers after two planes were involved in a near-miss collision. One of the planes crossed onto the runway as the other was about to take off, according to officials. The frightening event is currently under investigation by the Federal Aviation administration.
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According to authorities, on Friday the 13th, around 8:45 p.m., a crew had noticed an American Airlines jetliner crossing onto the runway from an adjacent taxiway, just as a Delta Airlines plane was ready to take off.
Delta pilots went on to slam on the brakes just in time in order to avoid a tragedy, while the plane carrying over 150 people stopped just a thousand feet away from the American Airlines aircraft.
According to CNN, take-off was then halted after air traffic controllers had noticed “another aircraft crossing in the runway in front of the departing jetliner.” Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, but it did cost Delta passengers, who were set to fly to the Dominican Republic, to miss their flight that day.
The Delta plane, flight 1943, quickly returned ordering its 145 passengers, along with six crew members off. The flight was later rescheduled for Saturday morning and customers were luckily given hotel rooms for that night. FlightAware data shows that the plane involved, Flight 106, was set to fly off to London Heathrow airport. The aircraft left Friday and quickly arrived in the UK by Saturday morning.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always Delta’s number one priority,” Delta said in a statement to CNN. “Delta will work with and assist the NTSB on a full review of flight 1943 on Jan. 13 regarding an aborted takeoff procedure at New York-JFK. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels.”
