Two days after two planes collided on a tarmac in Atlanta, a crisis was averted when an Alaska Airlines pilot flying in Tennessee applied the brakes while taking off from Nashville International Airport (BNA), narrowly avoiding a collision with another plane.
Flight 369 was aborted from taking off at BNA Airport on Thursday morning after a “potential traffic conflict” with a Southwest Airlines plane on the runway, an Alaska Airlines spokesman said.
An Alaska Airlines plane heading to Seattle had been cleared to take off by air traffic control, an airline spokesman said.
The airline said the pilot applied the brakes suddenly and prevented the accident from becoming worse.
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An Alaska Airlines plane avoided a potential collision with another plane at a Tennessee airport on Thursday. (iStock)
“We appreciate the pilot's expertise in immediately applying the brakes to prevent the accident from escalating. Our pilots are trained for these situations and handled the situation skillfully. The crew steered the aircraft away from the runway and towards the terminal, where, as designed, the tires deflated due to heat buildup from the sudden stop on the runway,” an Alaska Airlines spokesman said in a statement.
The airline added that all 176 passengers and crew on board disembarked the plane and arrived at the terminal safely.
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Travelers will pass through Nashville International Airport in Tennessee. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
The airline said: “We are sending another aircraft to Nashville to transport the passengers to Seattle, where they are expected to arrive later this evening. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to our guests and crew.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also released a statement about the incident, adding that it is currently investigating.
“The crew of Alaska Airlines Flight 369 aborted takeoff after Southwest Airlines Flight 2029 received clearance to pass the end of the same runway at Nashville International Airport. The Alaska Airlines crew reported a tire flat while braking. The FAA is investigating the incident, which occurred at approximately 9:15 a.m. local time Thursday,” the FAA said in a statement.
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A woman walks outside Nashville International Airport in Tennessee. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Alaska Airlines added that no passengers or crew members were reported injured.
Officials said a maintenance technician in Nashville was inspecting the plane.
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The near miss at BNA came just two days after a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350 and an Endeavor Bombardier CRJ900 jet collided on a runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday.
Delta Air Lines said in a statement that “the wing of an Airbus A350 taxiing from Atlanta to Tokyo Haneda as flight DL295 collided with the tail of an Endeavor Air CRJ-900, flight DL5526 to Lafayette, Louisiana, on an adjacent taxiway, causing damage to the regional jet's tail and the wing of the A350.”
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.
