Close call at LaGuardia Airport prompts FAA and NTSB investigations
The incident is one of many close calls, go-around and aviation accidents that has prompted calls for changes to air travel in the US and heightened public anxiety around flying.
The control tower at LaGuardia Airport in New York is seen in January 2019. A close call earlier this month at LaGuardia Airport in New York City between two commercial jets is under investigation. (Photo Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — A close call earlier this month at LaGuardia Airport in New York between two commercial jets is under investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday.
The incident is one of many close calls, go-around and aviation accidents that has prompted calls for changes to air travel in the US and heightened public anxiety around flying.
On May 6 around 12:35 a.m., an air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for American Eagle flight 4736, operated by Republic Airways, because United Airlines flight 2657 was taxiing on the same runway, the FAA said.
“Brickyard 4736 stop,” the tower controller yelled, using the Republic Airways callsign.
“Rejected takeoff runway 13,” the pilot replied in the audio recorded by website LiveATC.net.
“Sorry about that, I thought United had cleared well before that,” the controller responded.
The United flight, operating on a Boeing 737-800, arrived that evening from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and was carrying 107 passengers and six crew members, the airline said Monday.
The planes were almost a quarter mile apart when the Republic flight hit the brakes, according to an analysis by tracking site FlightRadar24.
The FAA also said Monday it is investigating another radio outage at the air traffic approach control facility responsible for flights approaching and departing nearby Newark Liberty International Airport.
The close call and the outage, the latest in a series of failures that have occurred in recent weeks, come just before the summer travel season.
The Newark terminal radar approach control facility, also known as Philadelphia TRACON Area C, experienced a radio outage for approximately two seconds around 11:35 a.m. Monday, the FAA said.
The issues at Philadelphia TRACON Area C have stretched beyond the New Jersey airport and unveiled a serious problem within the FAA’s antiquated air traffic control system.
Despite the challenges, Department of Transportation officials still say the system is safe.
CNN’s Sara Smart contributed to this report.
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