The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the circumstances surrounding a near collision between two jets taking off at Reagan National Airport on Thursday morning, prompting air traffic controllers to begin yelling for the pilots to stop.
An air traffic controller cleared a JetBlue flight to Boston to take off around 7:40 a.m. At the same time, a Southwest flight to Orlando had been instructed to cross the same runway.
“An air traffic controller instructed Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 to cross Runway 4 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport while JetBlue Flight 1554 was starting its takeoff roll on the same runway,” the FAA said.
The air traffic controllers shouted for both jets to stop, according to audio posted on YouTube by VASAviation. You can hear the calls to stop about 1 minute 39 seconds into the recording.
The jets came within 400 feet of each other.
The near collision did not significantly impact airport operations, NBC4 Washington reported.
The JetBlue flight then taxied back to the runway threshold, and the Southwest flight continued toward a second runway to take off, CNN reported.
The incident in Arlington comes as the FAA wants to hire 1,800 controllers this year and 2,000 in 2025. The hiring window is until April 22, and applicants must be younger than 31.
Feature image by Nate Hovee/stock.adobe.com
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