A potential collision narrowly avoided at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, Wednesday morning, when air traffic controllers cleared a Boston-bound American Airlines flight for takeoff, while a smaller King Air plane was cleared to land on an intersecting runway.
"American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance! Zero, Alpha, Alpha, go around, go around!" said an air traffic controller.
"Rejecting the takeoff, 2134," said the American Airlines pilot.
"Zero, Alpha, Alpha cannot go around, we were already on the ground," said the King Air pilot.
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The American Airlines plane had reached speeds of about 100 miles an hour when air traffic controllers ordered the pilot to abort takeoff.
Bill Connatser, who's flying out of Boston said, "Oh, my God, that's crazy!"
"That would be really scary if I was on that flight," said Jeannie who flew into Boston.
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While fliers at Boston Logan International Airport were concerned, they were surprised to learn something eerily similar happened on April 18 with another Boston-bound flight at the same airport.
An air traffic controller instructed a Southwest Airlines flight to cross a runway, while a Boston-bound JetBlue flight was starting to takeoff from the same runway.
"Sounds crazy, sounds a little scary!" said Kaley Kralovic, who's flying out of Boston.
The Federal Aviation Administration released findings in a separate report last month that air traffic controllers are at high-risk for fatigue because of scheduling issues and staffing shortages.
While it's unclear if that played a role in either incident, new rules will go into effect this summer increasing the rest period between shifts for air traffic controllers.
"We actually have a friend who's an air traffic controller," said Jeannie. "He's just high stress, long hours."
Bart Calzada, who flew into Boston, said, "Just the turnaround rate, they usually don't stay there very long because of all that."
"I've heard about that in the past, them being overworked and being so tired, I mean it happens all across the country. They should just have more people working," said Connatser.
The FAA is investigating both incidents.
