A close call between two airplanes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday morning is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The near-collision comes after air traffic controllers scrambled to stop another potential crash last month, and it spurred U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine to criticize the passage of a federal bill that’s set to bring more flights to Reagan National.
In the latest scare, an American Airlines plane, which was headed to Boston, had reached speeds of about 100 mph on the runway when air traffic controllers ordered the pilot to stop, NBC Boston reported.
An air traffic controller canceled the takeoff of American Airlines flight 2134 because another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway about 10:30 a.m., the FAA said.
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In recordings, air traffic controllers can be heard urgently directing the pilot to abort takeoff and turn off the main runway to avoid crossing paths with a smaller plane. That aircraft, a private plane, was landing on another runway that intersects with the American Airlines flight's runway.
“American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance!” an air traffic controller said. “Zero alpha alpha, go around! Go around!”
“Rejecting the takeoff, 2134,” a pilot replied.
“Zero alpha alpha, we cannot go around. We were already on the ground.”
"American 2134, do you want to go back to the gate?"
"Yeah, we need to talk to maintenance, but yeah, I think we were above 80 knots, so we're going to have to get an inspection."
In simple terms, one air traffic controller told the American Airlines plane to stop taking off. The smaller plane was told to do a go-around – essentially, fly around the airport and try to land again – but they were unable to do that.
American Airlines flight 2134 ultimately took off at 2:21 p.m. and landed in Boston at 3:52 p.m., about four hours late, according to FlightAware records.
No injuries were reported.
"The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we're grateful to our crew for their professionalism. We will support the FAA in its investigation," said an American Airlines spokesperson told NBC Boston.
The FAA has also announced it would investigate a close call last month in which two planes, one from Southwest and one from JetBlue, came within 1,000 feet of each other on runways at Reagan National Airport, News4 reported.
In the April incident, air traffic controllers can be heard yelling "STOP! STOP!" on audio that was posted to YouTube.
No one was hurt, and airport operations were not significantly affected.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents Virginia, said this week's close call underscores that the airport is at capacity.
“This shows why Senate action to jam even more flights into DCA was so dangerous,” Kaine said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The FAA must resist any new flights that compromise safety.”
Earlier this month, the Senate approved an FAA authorization bill that would add five daily roundtrip flights out of Reagan National.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which runs Reagan National, denounced the move.
“We are disappointed by the decision to force more flights into Reagan National Airport’s already congested schedule on America’s busiest runway, which will exacerbate delays, cancellations and stress on airport infrastructure,” MWAA’s statement read.
