A flight crew’s failure to follow instructions from tower controllers is being blamed for a near-collision of two airliners last June at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, the New York Post reports.
The FAA said in a statement to the Post that pilots of an EgyptAir Boeing 777 mistakenly taxied just 37 feet from Runway 22R, where it would have been in the path of a speeding Lufthansa jet preparing for takeoff during the June 20 incident.
The results of the FAA’s investigation have been sent to Egyptian authorities responsible for regulating EgyptAir operations, the newspaper reported.
The Lufthansa Airbus came to a screeching halt after someone in the control tower shouted over the radio for it to cancel takeoff. The Lufthansa Airbus A340 stopped only 1,500 feet from the EgyptAir jet — a distance it could have reached in just 6 seconds at its normal takeoff speed, according to the Post. The Lufthansa crew hit the plane’s brakes so hard that they overheated.
The FAA reportedly rated the incident a “Category C” runway incursion, and said in its statement that “there was ample time and/or distance to avoid a collision.”
The Lufthansa plane was carrying 286 passengers and crew, while the EgyptAir 777 was able to hold up to 346 passengers and crew.
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