American Airlines and Delta near-miss at JFK proves need for technology

The National Transportation Safety Board released a summary of its final report on a near collision between an American Airlines Boeing 777 and a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 on the runway at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in January last year. .

The NTSB believes that the American Airlines pilot's multitasking in the cockpit and a similar distraction at the air traffic control tower were the most likely contributors to the near-miss incident. What averted tragedy that day was the proper functioning of the technology introduced at the airport to prevent runway incursions.

On the evening of January 13, 2023, air traffic controllers cleared a Delta Air Lines B737 to take off on runway 4L. Twenty seconds after the Delta plane began its takeoff roll, the American Airlines plane crossed the runway without authorization.

“As the Delta 737 accelerated down the runway, the airport's Surface Detection Equipment – ​​Model a potential collision,” the NTSB reports. “Five seconds after the alerts, the controller canceled takeoff clearance for the Delta plane, which rapidly decelerated from its maximum speed of 121 mph as the American 777 crossed in front of it.”

Runway incursion technology has saved lives

Runway incursion technology saved lives, NTSB investigators determined, by alerting the air traffic controller of imminent danger. The Delta Air Lines 737 had 159 passengers and crew on board. The American Airlines 777 had 149 passengers and crew on board heading to Heathrow Airport in London. A high-speed collision between two planes fully fueled for the flight would likely have caused an intense fire.

“The NTSB recommended such technology in 1991, which led to the development of ASDE-X. The Federal Aviation Administration installed ASDE-X at JFK in 2009, one of 35 major U.S. airports so equipped,” the NTSB states. It also recommends “additional risk mitigation strategies” to reduce the likelihood of similar events occurring again.

“The only reason American aviation has such an exemplary safety record is because we have built in additional layers of protection, which is why we need life-saving technologies at more airports of the country,” said Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the NTSB. “Our survey also clearly shows why we have long supported systems that directly warn flight crews of risks: because every second counts. Fortunately, controllers acted quickly in this case, but safety should not rest solely on their shoulders. Instead, we must back up every component of the system; Direct Crew Alerts do just that.

Pilot multitasking and ATC distraction likely cause of incident

NTSB investigators found that several factors caused the American Airlines captain to continue along the wrong taxiway and cross the runway assigned to the Delta Air Lines plane without authorization.

Specifically, the NTSB reports “interruptions and multitasking occurring in the flight deck during critical moments of ground navigation.” The other two flight crew members did not realize the captain's error because they were both engaged in tasks that diverted their visual attention from outside the aircraft.

At the same time, the ground controller who was giving taxiing instructions to the crew of the American Airlines 777 did not see the plane turn onto the wrong taxiway because “he was performing a lower priority task that involved look down.”

Additionally, investigators found that the ATC tower team was working on other operational tasks “related to runway change” and had not scanned the airport for potential problems.

NTSB Recommendations to the FAA

The NTSB made several safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration regarding this incident, including:

• The flight crew must verbally indicate the runway number they will be crossing in the absence of an automated system that alerts ATC.
• Airlines should take a closer look at surface mitigation errors made by their crew and develop strategies to reduce the risks.
• The FAA should evaluate the effectiveness of the technology that manages the activation of runway status light systems and update them as necessary.
• The FAA should work with aircraft and avionics manufacturers “to develop a system that would alert flight crews to traffic on a runway or taxiway and to traffic approaching for landing.” Additionally, the FAA should require this cockpit alert system to be installed on new and existing aircraft.

The NTSB also highlighted the need for 25 hours of cockpit voice recorder recordings, which were not available for this incident and could have shed light on crew distractions on board. of the American Airlines plane. The FAA reauthorization, passed last month, required the adoption of 25-hour CVR recordings.

Recent Near-Miss Ground Collisions Highlight Need for Systemic Improvements

A number of similar recent incidents at U.S. airports have raised questions about air traffic controllers being over-duty and highlight the need for improved runway safety management.

The FAA is investigating an incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on May 29, when American Airlines Flight 2134 avoided a collision with another plane that had been cleared to land on an intersecting runway. In this case, the air traffic controller canceled takeoff clearance for the American Airlines Airbus A319 just in time to avoid a crash.

In April of this year, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue planes also avoided a collision at this airport after air traffic controllers noticed that the JetBlue flight was cleared to take off on a runway that the Southwest plane had been cleared to cross . Controllers quickly ordered both planes to stop, but the near miss highlights the challenges facing air traffic controllers and pilots, both overworked at the nation's busiest airports.

Last February, a Fedex 747 and a Southwest Airlines 737 came within 100 feet of each other when ATC cleared the cargo plane to land on the same runway as the Southwest plane Airlines had been cleared to take off from the Austin airport. In this case, the FedEx pilot's quick response helped avert disaster.

Although U.S. commercial aviation remains safe, there is growing concern that the shortage of qualified ATC personnel and the significant recovery in traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic could increase risks. Automation such as that recommended by the NTSB in its latest report, with systems monitoring the environment both on planes and in air traffic control towers, would reduce the burden on human eyes.