Hair-rising moment American Airlines is in near miss during take-off as pilot is forced to slam on the brakes at 110mph when private King aircraft lands in its path at Reagan National Airport
- The incident happened on Wednesday morning around 10:30 am
- There were 100 passengers on board the American Airlines flight to Boston
- Audio shows the pilot of the small plane telling the tower that he has already landed
According to reports, an American Airlines plane collided with a private plane on the runway at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday morning.
Audio shows an air traffic controller canceling take-off clearance for AA Flight 2134 as the private King Air plane was scheduled to land on an intersecting runway at 10:21 a.m. local time.
As the cancellation continues, the pilot in the private plane, a Hawker Beechcraft, reveals that he is already on the ground in Arlington, Virginia. Regan National Airport is also known as DCA.
The American aircraft involved was an Airbus A319. There were more than a hundred passengers on board.
The flight was headed to Boston and was cleared to land on runway 1 and reached a speed of 80 knots, about 110 miles per hour, before being told to abandon takeoff.
The King aircraft was cleared to land on runway 33.
The controller says, “American 2134 cancels takeoff clearance… zero alpha alpha, go around, go around.”
The American Airlines pilot responds: “Rejecting takeoff 2134.” The King pilot intervenes at that point and says, “Zero alpha alpha, can’t go around, we’re already on the ground.”
Then the controller says: ‘American 2134, do you want to go back to the gate?’ The American pilot confirms that they need to talk to maintenance.
“I think we were above 80 knots, so we’ll have to have an inspection done.”
Aviation expert Tom Kinton said the pilot of the US flight was ‘almost at the point of no return’ WCVB.
He added that the two planes were 400 meters apart at their closest point. “That would close very quickly if that American kept driving down the runway at that speed,” Kinton added.
The incident involved an American Airlines A319, similar to the one here, with the departing Reagan National in January 2023
The A319 had 100 passengers on board at the time of the near miss. The flight ultimately departed four hours later than planned
After the incident, the American Airlines plane returned to the gate where maintenance personnel performed a routine inspection. It finally took off around 2:30 p.m. and landed safely at Boston’s Logan Airport.
Just a month ago, a similar incident occurred involving a JetBlue and Southwest aircraft when they nearly collided. In that case, the JetBlue plane was also en route to Boston.
In response to this recent near collision, American Airlines emphasized that safety is always their first priority.
“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority and we are grateful to our crew for their professionalism. We will support the FAA in its investigation,” the airline said.
The FAA confirmed the incident occurred and said an investigation is underway.
Democratic senator and former vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine used the incident to highlight a recently passed bill by Congress that would allow more flights to land at Reagan National.
‘I’m relieved no one was injured. But this incident once again underlines that DCA is reaching capacity. This shows why the Senate’s action to block even more flights to DCA was so dangerous. The FAA must oppose new flights that endanger safety,” Kaine said.
Southwest Airlines recently applied to fly nonstop travel between DCA and Las Vegas. American has submitted a similar request for a flight between DCA and San Antonio, while Alaska has done the same for a route to San Diego, reports said Aviation week.