Pilot action averts potential collision at Fort Lauderdale airportPosteddocument.write(niceDate('7/13/2007 3:16 PM')); 2d 22h ago | Comments 15 | Recommend 35E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | 
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');By Alan Levin, USA TODAY
A collision between two jets carrying 172 people was narrowly averted this week in Fort Lauderdale, when pilots on a Delta Airlines flight that had just touched down were able to get airborne to avoid a second aircraft on the runway, federal authorities reported Friday.
Delta Flight 1489 flew over the top of United Airlines Flight 1544, missing the other jet by less than 100 feet, according to data released by investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The runway incident occurred at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
The pilots on the United jet, an Airbus A320 that was taxiing to the runway for departure, took a wrong turn and accidentally entered Runway 9-Left without permission, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown.
An air traffic controller in the airport's tower spotted the jet heading toward the runway, said a preliminary NTSB report. "UAL 1544, stop, stop, stop," the controller said in a radio transmission to the pilots released by the NTSB.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Federal Aviation Administration | Delta Airlines | Fort Lauderdale | National Transportation Safety Board
However, the pilots could not stop the jet before it entered the runway. At the same time, the Delta flight, a Boeing 757, was touching down about 2,000 to 3,000 feet away on the same runway. The 757 lands at roughly 150 mph, according to Jane's All The World's Aircraft.
The controller ordered the Delta pilots to abort their landing, but by the time the crew received the instruction their wheels had already touched the pavement, the NTSB said.
The pilots on the Delta jet "noted the urgency in the controller's voice so they knew they had to get the aircraft airborne," the NTSB said.
The Delta pilots accelerated and lifted off, passing over the other jet by less than 100 feet.
The incident is the latest near miss on the nation's runways. The NTSB is investigating a May 26 incident at San Francisco International Airport in which two commuter planes missed by as little as 30 to 50 feet.
A preliminary review by the FAA blamed that incident on a controller who mistakenly cleared one plane for takeoff as a second aircraft was landing on an intersecting runway.
Last year the FAA reported 21 near misses on runways that it classified as the most serious, those incidents that nearly resulted in collisions.
The deadliest crash in history involved two jets that collided on the ground. Two Boeing 747s slammed into each other on March 27, 1977, in the Canary Islands, killing 574 people.
The NTSB considers runway incidents one of the biggest risks facing commercial aviation. "We've been running on luck too long, and that's no way to run an aviation system," NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said at a forum on the issue in March.
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When is ignorant management going to figure it out? They still think pilots are no more important to the succesful operation of an airline than anyone else? They're not a special breed? Let's see two rampers or gate agents save 172 peoples lives because of their professionalism, training and years of experience.
Sorry to piggyback on you guys (Delta) but Airtran management needs to see stuff like this when they try to give us a concessionary contract!!!
swapContent('firstHeader','applyHeader');By Alan Levin, USA TODAY
A collision between two jets carrying 172 people was narrowly averted this week in Fort Lauderdale, when pilots on a Delta Airlines flight that had just touched down were able to get airborne to avoid a second aircraft on the runway, federal authorities reported Friday.
Delta Flight 1489 flew over the top of United Airlines Flight 1544, missing the other jet by less than 100 feet, according to data released by investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The runway incident occurred at 2:37 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport.
The pilots on the United jet, an Airbus A320 that was taxiing to the runway for departure, took a wrong turn and accidentally entered Runway 9-Left without permission, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown.
An air traffic controller in the airport's tower spotted the jet heading toward the runway, said a preliminary NTSB report. "UAL 1544, stop, stop, stop," the controller said in a radio transmission to the pilots released by the NTSB.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Federal Aviation Administration | Delta Airlines | Fort Lauderdale | National Transportation Safety Board
However, the pilots could not stop the jet before it entered the runway. At the same time, the Delta flight, a Boeing 757, was touching down about 2,000 to 3,000 feet away on the same runway. The 757 lands at roughly 150 mph, according to Jane's All The World's Aircraft.
The controller ordered the Delta pilots to abort their landing, but by the time the crew received the instruction their wheels had already touched the pavement, the NTSB said.
The pilots on the Delta jet "noted the urgency in the controller's voice so they knew they had to get the aircraft airborne," the NTSB said.
The Delta pilots accelerated and lifted off, passing over the other jet by less than 100 feet.
The incident is the latest near miss on the nation's runways. The NTSB is investigating a May 26 incident at San Francisco International Airport in which two commuter planes missed by as little as 30 to 50 feet.
A preliminary review by the FAA blamed that incident on a controller who mistakenly cleared one plane for takeoff as a second aircraft was landing on an intersecting runway.
Last year the FAA reported 21 near misses on runways that it classified as the most serious, those incidents that nearly resulted in collisions.
The deadliest crash in history involved two jets that collided on the ground. Two Boeing 747s slammed into each other on March 27, 1977, in the Canary Islands, killing 574 people.
The NTSB considers runway incidents one of the biggest risks facing commercial aviation. "We've been running on luck too long, and that's no way to run an aviation system," NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said at a forum on the issue in March.
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When is ignorant management going to figure it out? They still think pilots are no more important to the succesful operation of an airline than anyone else? They're not a special breed? Let's see two rampers or gate agents save 172 peoples lives because of their professionalism, training and years of experience.
Sorry to piggyback on you guys (Delta) but Airtran management needs to see stuff like this when they try to give us a concessionary contract!!!
