Two planes nearly collided on the runway at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan Airport (DCA) on Thursday morning, when air traffic controllers appeared to nearly steer the planes toward each other.
In a statement provided to the Daily Caller, the Federal Aviation Administration said, “Air traffic controllers observed that a Ronald Reagan aircraft was flying onto Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 while JetBlue Flight 1554 was beginning its takeoff roll on the same runway. “I directed them to cross Runway 4 at Washington National Airport.”
“This incident occurred on Thursday, April 18, at approximately 7:41 a.m. local time. The FAA will investigate,” the statement concluded.
DCA ground control initially directed Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 to give way to an American Airlines Airbus. (Related article: Major airport named ‘UFO hotspot’ after countless strange sightings)
Air traffic controllers then cleared JetBlue Flight 1554 to take off.
JetBlue granted the permit. In a video posted on Twitter by Greg Lee, the pilot relays, “JetBlue 1554, cleared for takeoff from runway 4.”
According to Re’s video, the planes begin to move toward each other.
Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways planes nearly collided on the runway at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan Airport today.
Air traffic controllers directed the Southwest jet to cross the runway where JetBlue had already been cleared for takeoff.
hear the tower scream
Video credits: @VASAviation pic.twitter.com/RDdiwLUNl2
— Gregg Re (@gregg_re) April 18, 2024
“Tell Southwest to stop!” the JetBlue pilot yelled.
“JetBlue Flight 1554, stop!” the towers on the ground shouted.
“Southwest, stop! Southwest 2937, stop!” the ground controller kept shouting.
“We were cleared to stop and cross Runway 4,” the Southwest pilot relayed.
“I’m done with it,” Jet Blue said.
According to Lee’s video, the Southwest flight “approximately 60 meters past the short line of the hold and came within 20 meters of the end of the runway.”
Seven minutes after the incident, the FAA reposted an article Axios tweeted with the caption, “FAA considering hiring new air traffic controllers.”
The FAA is considering hiring new air traffic controllers.
No degree required. This may be attractive to many young Americans who are looking to trade or vocational work rather than college. https://t.co/TezLm7kMcQ
— Axios (@axios) April 18, 2024
The Daily Caller asked the FAA if its decision to repost the tweet was related to the incident, but questions were not answered in time for publication.
