Travel News

Air Traffic Control Prevents Collision When Pilot Makes Wrong Turn at JFK

Air traffic control stepped in at the last moment and prevented a near-collision at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday night.

Lufthansa Flight 411 was preparing for lift-off and approaching 180 mph when EgyptAir Flight 986 made a wrong turn onto a runway.

According to audio recordings, the Lufthansa jet braked quickly after an agitated air traffic controller screamed, “Cancel takeoff! Cancel takeoff plans!”

The Lufthansa Airbus A340 was flying with 286 passengers and crew. The flight was seconds away from hitting EgyptAir flight 986, a Boeing 777 that carries up to 340 passengers. The impact would likely have resulted in over 600 fatalities.

The FAA released a statement that the planes were a “considerable distance” from each other, but eyewitness reports may indicate otherwise.

Sunset PlanePilots from other airlines, who witnessed the event, are also heard on the recording commenting on the close call. One pilot said, “those two were coming together.”

Following the near-miss, air traffic control stopped all traffic for a short period. The Lufthansa flight had “hot brakes” from the emergency stop and required an additional maintenance inspection before it proceeded to Munich, Germany. The EgyptAir flight took off for Cairo 90 minutes later.

Unlike recent high-profile incidents involving negligent air traffic controllers, the EgyptAir flight had received proper instruction from air control to remain 250 feet away from the Lufthansa’s flight path.

The FAA is currently reviewing the audio recording and studying the radar images to better understand how this pilot error came to pass.

By Lily J. Kosner for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related Links: BBC, NY Daily News, Fox News

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