Two planes narrowly avoided each other on the runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, according to an air traffic audio recording, the second such near miss at the airport in six weeks.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate into how American Airlines flight 2134 was cleared for takeoff at about 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, while another plane had already been cleared to land on a cross-runway.
“An air traffic controller cancelled the takeoff clearance for American Airlines Flight 2134 because another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,” a spokesperson for the FAA said Thursday morning.
American Airlines said in a statement: “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.”
Two planes nearly collided in a similar mishap at the airport on April 18.
The American Airlines flight was an Airbus A319 bound for Boston Logan International Airport, according to FlightAware.com, while the smaller second plane was a private Hawker Beechcraft Super King Air.
According to audio captured by LiveATC.com, a flight controller is heard saying: “American 2134 cancel takeoff clearance,” before telling the other plane not to land and instead circle the airport waiting for clearance. “Zero Alpha Alpha, go around, go around!” the controller says.
The pilot from the second plane replies: “And Aero Alpha Alpha cannot go around, we were already on the ground.”
The controller then tells AA2134 to exit the runway to be “resequenced” or head back to the gate.
But the pilot replies that because they were going so fast — more than 80 knots, which is 92 mph — when the take-off was cancelled the plane would need to be inspected.
“Uh, we’re gonna, we need to talk to maintenance, but yeah I think, uh, we were above 80 knots so [we’re] gonna have to get an inspection,” he says.
A replay from the adsbexchange.com website, which tracks flightpaths and records planes’ locations, shows the American Airlines plane begin its takeoff while the other plane is landing and about to travel across the runway.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the near-collision showed that the airport operation was at capacity.
“I’m relieved no one was hurt. But this incident underscores again that DCA is at capacity,” he said on X, before adding that the FAA should reject measures to approve any new flight routes that “compromise safety.”
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority declined to comment.
The FAA held a safety summit in 2023 to discuss whether changes were needed to how flights are regulated after a string of near-collisions.
