On Wednesday, an American Airlines flight bound for Boston was forced to slam on the brakes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to avoid colliding with another plane landing.
Replay data shows that the American Airlines flight began taking off while a King Air flight landed on a crossing runway, forcing the American flight to stop in the middle of its takeoff process.
The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the incident, which was the second to occur at the airport in the last six weeks.
“An air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for American Airlines Flight 2134 because another aircraft was cleared to land on an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement.
Audio from air traffic controllers was captured by LivaATC.Net and shed more light on the near collision.
An air traffic controller can be heard saying, “American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance,” before the pilot responded, “Rejecting the takeoff 2134,” and hit the brakes decelerating from top speeds of 110 mph, DailyMail reported.
The airline has released a statement on the incident, noting that they would support the investigation into what happened.
“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we’re grateful to our crew for their professionalism,” American Airlines said in a statement.
FlightAware reports that the flight was eventually able to arrive in Boston, though it was four hours late.
The FAA stressed that despite recent issues over Memorial Day weekend and beyond, commercial flights remain one of the safest ways to travel in the US.