The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported this Friday that it had issued summonses to the crew of an American Airlines plane that nearly crashed on one of the runways at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport last month. past.
On January 13, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-900 had to abort its takeoff after air traffic controllers noticed an American Airlines Boeing 777 had crossed the runway from an adjacent taxiway.
According to the NTSB, the London-bound American flight crossed the runway without clearance from air traffic control.
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The Delta flight, bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, aborted the takeoff run and came to a stop about 500 feet from the taxiway. At the closest point, the two aircraft were within 1,400 feet of each other.
The NTSB said it has attempted to interview the crew of the American Airlines flight on three separate occasions, but they denied it, saying their statements would be recorded for transcription.
The NTSB indicated that the cockpit voice recording of the incident on both planes was overwritten and not recovered.
The NTSB defended the request for the recorded interviews by saying that “transcripts of each flight crew member’s account of the activities and conversation leading up to the runway incursion are particularly important in the absence of a voice recording of the cabin.”
American Airlines said in an email to Reuters that he was cooperating with the NTSB investigation, adding that “the safety of our customers and team members is our highest priority.”
The Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots, said in a statement that it raised concerns about the NTSB’s “recent insistence” on recording crew interviews.
“We strongly believe that the introduction of recording devices into witness interviews is more likely to hinder the investigative process than improve it,” the union said.
On the American Airlines flight there were 12 crew members and 137 passengers, and on the Delta flight, six crew members and 153 passengers.
Photo: James Rowson/Wikimedia Commons
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