Another near miss at Reagan National Airport, FAA investigates – NBC4 Washington

A close call between two planes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Wednesday morning is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration.

It follows another near miss last month, and it prompted U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine to criticize the passage of a federal bill that is expected to add even more flights.

An air traffic controller canceled the takeoff of American Airlines Flight 2134 because another plane was cleared to land on an intersecting runway around 10:30 a.m., the FAA said.

The American Airlines plane, which was headed to Boston, had reached speeds of about 100 miles per hour when air traffic controllers ordered the pilot to abort the takeoff, NBC Boston reported.

In the recordings, air traffic controllers can be heard urgently ordering the pilot to cancel the takeoff and leave the main runway to avoid encountering a smaller plane landing on another runway.

“American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance!” » declared an air traffic controller. “Zero alpha alpha, go around!” Take the tour!”

“Takeoff rejected, 9:34 p.m.,” a pilot replied.

“Zero alpha alpha, we can’t go around. We were already on the ground.

“American 2134, do you want to go back to the gate?”

“Yes, we need to talk to maintenance but yes, I think we were above 80 knots, so we're going to have to do an inspection.”

Simply put, an air traffic controller asked the American Airlines plane to stop taking off. Another, smaller plane was asked to go around – essentially, go around the airport and attempt to land again – but it was unable to do so.

American Airlines Flight 2134 finally took off at 2:21 p.m. and landed in Boston at 3:52 p.m., about four hours late, according to FlightAware records.

No injuries were reported.

“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we are grateful to our crew for their professionalism. We will support the FAA in their investigation,” an American Airlines spokesperson told NBC Boston .

The FAA also announced it would investigate a close call in which two planes, one Southwest and the other JetBlue, came within 1,000 feet of each other on runways from Reagan National Airport, News4 reported last month.

During the April incident, air traffic controllers can be heard shouting “STOP! STOP!” on the audio that was posted on YouTube.

No one was injured and airport operations were not significantly affected.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents Virginia, said the incident highlights how congested the airport is.

“This shows why the Senate's action to block even more flights to DCA was so dangerous,” Kaine said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The FAA must resist any further safety-compromising flights.”

More flights could arrive at Reagan National Airport, and the airport and some local lawmakers are furious about it, saying the airport is already too busy. News4 Transportation reporter Adam Tuss explains.

Earlier this month, the Senate approved an FAA authorization bill that would add five daily round-trip flights from Reagan National.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which runs Reagan National, denounced the decision.

“We are disappointed by the decision to impose more flights on Reagan National Airport's already busy schedule on America's busiest runway, which will exacerbate delays, cancellations and pressure on airport infrastructure.” , indicates the MWAA press release.