ARLINGTON, Va. – An Orlando-bound flight completed its trip Thursday from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after avoiding a collision on the runway with a jet that was starting its takeoff, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 to Orlando left the gate at 7:33 a.m., according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Around 7:41 a.m., an air traffic controller at DCA instructed the Southwest flight to cross Runway 4 while JetBlue Flight 1554 to Boston was starting its takeoff roll on the same strip, the FAA said in a statement.
“Stop! Southwest 2937, stop!” an air traffic controller can be heard saying.
“We stopped. We were cleared to cross Runway 4,” a pilot replied.
The two planes stopped about 400 feet apart, with both flights continuing to their destinations after the close call. The Orlando-bound flight actually managed to arrive some eight minutes ahead of schedule, according to FlightAware.
The FAA is looking into the near-miss, an investigation that comes after more than 100 safety meetings were held nationwide last year. There were 23 close calls on runways at U.S. airports during the 2023 fiscal year, up from 16 the year prior.
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told a Senate panel in November that the surge in close calls between planes at U.S. airports is a “clear warning sign” that the aviation system is under stress.
“You are missing things, you are forgetting things,” Homendy said, warning of air traffic and staffing shortages since the pandemic, irregular work schedules, a lack of “meaningful” training and a higher reliance on computer-based instruction.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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