An American Airlines jet "almost at the point of no return" abruptly aborted its takeoff at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to avoid a collision when air traffic controllers realized that a private plane was landing on an intersecting runway, according to reports.
American Airlines flight 2134 was cleared for takeoff on Wednesday morning and the Boston-bound aircraft had reached speeds of around 100 mph when controllers frantically told the pilot to abort the takeoff, WCVB reported.
A smaller King Air was cleared to land on an intersecting runway. Traffic controllers told the smaller plane to go around but realized it had landed.
"American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance! Zero, Alpha, Alpha, go around, go around!" a traffic controller told the pilot, NBC 10 Boston reported.
"Rejecting the takeoff, 2134."
"Zero, Alpha, Alpha 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."
"He was almost at the point of no return, meaning you can't stop, you have to keep flying the aircraft," Tom Kinton, former MassPort CEO and aviation expert, said, according to WCVB.
About 1,300 feet separated the planes.
"That closes real quick if that American was continuing down the runway at that speed," he said.
The American Airlines jet returned to the gate and was inspected by crews for several hours before finally departing to Boston's Logan Airport about four hours later.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the near-miss.
"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," the FAA said in a statement. "The FAA will investigate."
"The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we're grateful to our crew for their professionalism," a spokesperson for American Airlines said, WCVB reported. "We will support the FAA in its investigation."
