FX.co ★ JetBlue, Southwest Planes Almost Collide On Reagan National Runway

A potential disaster was narrowly averted at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport on Thursday, when two planes, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, came dangerously close to colliding. This incident is the latest in a string of near-misses at U.S. airports, as reported by NBC News.

The Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating the factors that resulted in this close shave.

Air traffic control communications captured controllers hastily instructing the JetBlue flight, an Embraer ERJ-190 bound for Boston, to abort its takeoff. This command was issued after a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, set to depart for Orlando, started to cross the runway ahead of the JetBlue flight. Both planes halted immediately, stopping within 400 feet of each other as the controllers intervened.

The reason why both jets were permitted to occupy the same runway at the same time remains unclear. Thankfully, no injuries were reported following the incident. After the near-collision, the JetBlue flight made its way back to the start of the runway before successfully departing for Boston Logan. Meanwhile, the Southwest Airlines flight was instructed to continue across the runway before heading to a second runway, where it also successfully took off for Orlando as per its schedule.

Industry experts are of the opinion that such an incident underscores the minimal safety buffers amongst the overburdened air traffic controllers. This near-collision is just one among several such close calls reported recently at U.S. airports, making it imperative that robust safety protocols be implemented to forestall similar episodes in the future.