The American Airlines flight 308 bound for Bermuda aborted its takeoff at the Miami International Airport on Friday, June 27, around 6:00 p.m. (local time), after an unauthorized executive jet entered the same active runway where the commercial aircraft was already taxiing at about 60 mph, according to CNN.
The aircraft involved was an Airbus A319 with 112 passengers on board.
The pilots applied the brakes upon detecting the other aircraft, and at the most critical moment, the two planes were separated by only a third of a mile - approximately 500 meters - which triggered the emergency protocols.
The tense exchange in the control tower
The incident was recorded in an air traffic control audio obtained by ABC News and verified by CNN, which captured a tense exchange between the MIA controller and the private jet pilot.
“He just crossed an active runway”, the controller said to the pilot of the executive jet.
“You told me to cross the runway, sir,” replied the pilot.
“No, we said Amerijet 461,” the controller clarified, highlighting a potential flight identification confusion as a possible cause of the error.
The jet that invaded the runway was identified as flight EJA434 from NetJets.
The private aviation company reported, according to CNN, that its aircraft was being operated at that time by an external maintenance provider, not by its own pilots.
NetJets did not issue any further public comments on the incident.
The reaction of American Airlines and the federal investigation
In an official statement cited by Local10, the airline explained that the crew “interrupted the takeoff maneuver upon observing another aircraft on the runway”, after having received clearance to take off.
The company concluded its statement with a message of gratitude: "We appreciate the quick actions of our crew and the understanding of our customers."
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed on Monday that the private aircraft did not have authorization to be on the active runway and has opened a formal investigation into the incident, according to a report by Telemundo 51.
Flight 308 was rescheduled and took off smoothly just before 8:00 p.m., approximately two hours after its scheduled departure, arriving in Bermuda shortly before midnight local time.
An alarming pattern in U.S. aviation
The Miami incident is not an isolated event.
On Friday, June 27, the pilot of United Airlines flight 1513 reported having come close to hitting a drone while landing at Newark Airport in New Jersey: "We almost collided with a drone," he said, noting that the object was about 30 meters below the aircraft.
Last week, the FAA was already investigating a near-accident at Boston's Logan Airport, where a Delta flight aborted its landing to avoid colliding with an American Airlines plane, with both aircraft just 300 feet apart, according to a report by the New York Post.
This chain of incidents occurs on the eve of the July 4th holiday, with an estimated record of 72 million people expected to travel across the country, intensifying the debate over security in U.S. airspace and the communication protocols between controllers and pilots.
Runway incursions are considered by the FAA to be one of the most serious risks in civil aviation, given their potential to lead to catastrophic collisions.
The investigation into the incident involving flight AA308 in Miami remains open.
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