A tense audio recording has captured the critical moment when a pilot was urged to halt abruptly during takeoff to prevent a collision with a crowded United Airlines aircraft.
The frazzled air traffic controller quickly apologized after the latest flight drama left injured passengers in the hospital.
On May 6, shortly after midnight, American Airlines flight AA4736, operated by Republic Airways, was authorized to accelerate down the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
However, after reaching top speeds, the pilot was suddenly urged to halt, sending passengers lurching forward in their seats with the abrupt stop.
According to Flight Radar 24, the planes were just .27 miles away from each other when the pilot hit the brakes.
“The stop was as hard as any car accident I’ve been in,” passenger Renee Hoffer told the Associated Press.
The shaken flyer said the lurch was so violent that she ended up in the emergency room the next day with neck pain and arm numbness.
Chilling audio has captured the moment the controller noticed that United Airlines flight UA2657 was taxiing on the same runway.
In radio recordings obtained by KABC from LiveATC, the controller yelled out, “Brickyard 4736 stop!”
“United 2657 expedite off please,” the controller said before the pilot responded,” We’re expediting 2657.”
The Republic pilot then confirmed that his flight had been “rejected” and stood by for instructions.
The controller was then forced to apologize, saying, “Brickyard 4736, sorry about that. I thought United had cleared well before that.
“Just stay there for a moment, and I got to get the other United out of the way. We’ll get you off the runway,” the controller said.
The confusion arose when the controller granted the Republic pilot permission for takeoff while, simultaneously, a ground controller on another radio frequency directed the United plane onto a new taxiway, according to the Associated Press.
The United flight had missed its first assigned route and had to be taken to a different one.
Hoffer said that after passengers were unloaded and sent back to the airport at 12:35 am, they were refused vouchers for an overnight hotel stay.
The gate agents blamed the weather for the sudden stop, despite one flyer noticing that another plane was on the runway via an app on her phone.
Republic was flying the route on behalf of American Airlines, but neither brand has given a convincing answer to Hoffer’s complaints, the passenger said.
They both directed her to the FAA, which was also silent over her frustrations.
US on edge over ‘cluster’ of plane crashes
A series of devastating plane crashes, including the mid-air collision above DC that killed 67, has left Americans terrified of traveling by air.
However, aviation expert and attorney Jason Matzus told The U.S. Sun the crashes can be attributed to “random clustering.”
“While these events are tragic, the likely explanation is simply ‘random clustering,’ which occurs when multiple crashes occur over a short period, warping our general perception and causing us to think that there is an increasing trend in plane crashes,” Matzus said.
“When in reality these crashes, despite being so close together, are merely coincidental and not caused by a systemic safety issue.”
The short period Matzus referred to was just a matter of three weeks. The aviation mishaps included:
January 29 – A military helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Washington DC airport, killing 67 people
January 31 – An air ambulance carrying a 6-year-old girl and her mom crashed on a street in Philadelphia, killing seven people in total
February 5 – A Japan Airlines flight hit a parked Delta plane at Seattle SeaTac Airport and no one was injured
February 6 – A small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, crashed killing all 10 people on board
February 10 – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil’s private jet collided with another plane, killing the pilot and injuring four others
February 17 – A Delta plane crashed on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, miraculously killing no one but injuring 21
February 19 – Two planes collided at Marana Airport in Arizona, killing two people
February 24 – Smoke filled a Delta Airlines flight cabin forcing passengers to evacuate by a slide after making an emergency landing in Atlanta
March 9 – A Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft crashed into a retirement village parking lot in Manheim, Pennsylvania
March 13 – An American Airlines jet engine erupted into flames at the Denver airport, forcing passengers to escape onto the plane’s wing
FLIGHT FEARS
The airline horror comes as a shock, as LaGuardia is one of just 35 airports in the US that use top-notch technology to prevent runway crashes.
Controllers there can use the ASDS-X system to keep an eye on planes, while other airports have to rely on crude methods like looking through binoculars from a tower.
May 6’s runway horror is just the latest in a string of airport accidents that have brought a wave of flying fears.
Newark International Airport in New Jersey made headlines after communications blacked out for nearly two minutes.
And in February, a Southwest plane quickly lurched back into the air during a landing at Chicago’s Midway airport as a business jet had crossed right in its path.
