Last week, a potential aviation disaster was miraculously averted at JFK International Airport in New York. On April 17, a Swiss Airlines flight bound for Zurich, during its takeoff, discovered that four other planes had also been cleared to cross the same runway. The Swiss flight captain promptly aborted the takeoff, thereby avoiding what could have been a catastrophic event.
According to reports from various international media outlets, at the moment of the incident, the Swiss flight captain, just moments before the aircraft was scheduled to take off, spotted other planes taxiing on the runway and immediately reacted by cancelling the takeoff procedure. The captain’s swift response has earned high praise from the airline company. Swiss Airlines expressed gratitude in a statement for the crew’s high alertness and rapid response, successfully averting a potential disaster.
Based on FlightAware data, the Swiss flight took off at 5:00 PM, 35 minutes behind the original schedule. The plane safely landed in Zurich, Switzerland, at 6:26 AM local time.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation into the incident. Aviation expert John Nance commented that the frequency of such incidents nationwide is concerning, highlighting issues with air traffic control pressure.
Just the day before this incident, a similar close call occurred at Washington Reagan National Airport, where Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 and a JetBlue flight both approved for takeoff were on the same runway with less than 400 feet between them. Air traffic controllers immediately instructed the Southwest Airlines pilot to brake, preventing a collision between the two aircraft.
However, in February this year, two JetBlue flights collided on the tarmac at Boston Logan International Airport.
According to aviation media outlet “Simple Flying,” a shortage of air traffic controllers could be one of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of such problems. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recruitment of air traffic controllers was temporarily halted, leading many controllers to work overtime, and the new retirement age has been adjusted to 56.