Flight aborted as second aircraft ‘crosses runway’
A passenger on a Bermuda-bound flight whose takeoff was aborted on the runway in Miami shared her gratitude today for the pilot’s swift actions.
Jennifer Doe was on the American Airlines service scheduled to leave the US city at about 6pm local time yesterday when a business jet reportedly crossed its path.
The AA flight was discontinued as the pilot “veered off” his intended course and service resumed later yesterday evening.
“I feel really shaken up, I feel really grateful,” Ms Doe told The Royal Gazette. “I believe in angels and I believe there was an angel there, for sure.”
ABC News described the incident at Miami International Airport as a “near collision” and said that the AA flight “suddenly aborted take-off as a business jet entered the same runway”.
It added that the Federal Aviation Administration was investigating.
ABC News reported that flightradar24 data showed AA flight 308 for Bermuda travelling down a runway at about 60mph with 112 passengers and five crew on board.
It added that a business jet crossed the same runway.
An audio clip from air traffic control showed that an operator advised crew on the private jet that their aircraft had “crossed an active runway”.
A pilot on that plane replied: “You just told me to cross the runway, sir.”
The clip showed that the controller’s response was: “No, we said Amerijet 461.”
ABC News reported that the aircraft came within about one third of a mile or 600 yards of each other.
An American Airlines spokeswoman told the Gazette today: “After receiving clearance, American Airlines flight 308 discontinued its take-off when the crew observed another aircraft on the runway.
“We appreciate the quick actions of our crew members and thank our customers for their understanding.”
Ms Doe, a Smith’s Island, St George’s resident who described herself as a “nervous flyer”, recalled: “We were about to take off then all of a sudden the brakes were applied, we veered off to the right.”
She added: “The pilot came on and said somebody had crossed the runway in front of us.”
Ms Doe said that the plane was taken to a different area for checks to be carried out and she had wished to leave the aircraft but passengers remained on board during that process.
“They wanted to test that we didn’t damage the brakes because we braked so quickly,” she added.
Ms Doe, who thanked the pilot in person at the time, said that she “couldn’t be more grateful” to the cockpit crew for their quick thinking and swift actions.
The American Airlines service departed later yesterday evening for Bermuda, with the flight understood to have been without incident.
Messages from the Gazette were left with NetJets — said by ABC News to be the operator of the business jet — and the FAA for comment.
