Two planes narrowly avoided disaster on the runway at Nashville International Airport Thursday morning, authorities said.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Alaska Airlines Flight 369 suffered a tire blowout while attempting to avoid a collision with Southwest Airlines Flight 2029 on the runway around 9:15 a.m.
According to Flightradar24, the Alaska Airlines plane It was traveling at 120 miles per hour. The pilot applied the brakes and the airline said the flight was given the clearance to leave.
As the 737 MAX 9 taxied and began to accelerate, the Alaska Airlines pilot saw the Southwest plane crossing the same runway and quickly aborted the takeoff.
A Southwest Airlines plane bound for Jacksonville, Florida, also had clearance from air traffic control to clear that runway, according to the FAA.
Federal officials said the close call is currently under investigation.
“We are very concerned about this (incident) and the other incidents under investigation,” NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference.
She also had questions about new technology that is scheduled to be available at Nashville International Airport by July.
The FAA announced in July that it would install new runway safety technology at four U.S. airports.
One of the airports officials singled out for the new program is Nashville International Airport.
FAA officials declined to comment on whether the technology was in place at the time of this morning's near-miss.
The technology, named the “Surface Awareness Initiative,” aims to “reduce the risk of runway incursions.”
“This cost-effective technology will provide controllers with timely and accurate visibility into aircraft and vehicles across the airfield in all weather conditions,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in April.
Homendy said it was unclear whether the SAI was in use, but suggested to reporters that that was a key question in the investigation: “Was the SAI online at that runway? Did it sound an alarm?”
Southwest and Alaska Airlines have said they will cooperate and participate in investigations by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The 176 passengers and six crew members on board the Alaska Airlines flight were transferred to another plane after their plane was taken out of service.
Earlier this week, Southwest Airlines shares fell after the company said six members of its board of directors would step down in November, though CEO Robert Jordan plans to stay on in his role.
With post wire
