‘Southwest, Stop!’ The plane avoided a collision on the runway at a distance of less than 400 feet in Washington DC

Two planes nearly collided on the runway Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, DC on Thursday morning. One Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was cleared to clear the runway, while one JetBlue Embraer ERJ-190 prepares to take off on the same runway. WTOP report Potential disaster was averted because the planes were 400 feet apart. Although no one was injured and no aircraft was damaged, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

Record of air traffic control communications highlights the serious error that occurred and the rush to correct it once air traffic controllers discovered it. The ground controller has been removed Southwest flight to cross Runway 4. Just seconds later, the tower controller cleared the JetBlue flight to take off on Runway 4. When it quickly became clear that the planes were heading toward each other, the ground and tower cleared called over the radio, “JetBlue 1554, Stop!” and “Southwest, Stop! Southwest 2937!” Both planes stopped and eventually left the airport safely, arriving on time.

This incident at Reagan National was not a one-time incident in a vacuum. Have There is a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllersthis has resulted Horrible working conditions for those entrusted with such important tasks. Reports of controllers falling asleep on the job and coming to work drunk or drunk due to stress on the job are worrying. According to the FAA, there are only 31 runway incursions per million takeoffs and landings. However, if just one of those near misses resulted in an accident, it would be disastrous.