An American Airlines plane was forced to abort takeoff at the last second Wednesday to avoid crashing into a private jet landing at Virginia’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said.
The near-miss — the second close call at the Arlington airport in just over a month — unfolded just after the Boston-bound flight had been given clearance by air traffic controllers to take off at about 10:30 am.
The plane had already reached speeds of roughly 100 mph when controllers realized a King Air private jet was landing on an intersecting runway.American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance. Zero Alpha Alpha, go around, go around,” a traffic controller could be heard saying in audio obtained by Boston25.The American pilot quickly responded they were “rejecting” takeoff before the private jet pilot said, “Zero Alpha Alpha, cannot go around, we are already on the ground.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was probing the close call — the second to unfold at Reagan National Airport, just outside Washington, DC, in the last few weeks.
“An air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for American Airlines Flight 2134 because another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement.