‘CLOSEST EVER’

Shaken Pilot Slams on Brakes in Terrifying Runway Close Call

The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members.

A Frontier Airlines pilot was forced to brake hard to avoid colliding with two trucks on a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport. “Holy s--t. It was real close, closest I’ve ever seen,” the shaken pilot was heard saying, according to ATC audio, after the near-miss on Wednesday evening. The Atlanta-bound plane was taxiing to the runway when “two trucks cut us off,” the pilot said in ATC audio. “We had to slam on the brakes not to hit them.” The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating. “It happened so fast,” the pilot said. “I have to go check on the flight attendants in the back.” The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. Brian Sinclair, a former F-18 pilot who is now an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, shared a theory with CBS News about how the near-calamity occurred. “In this case, there are three specific locations at LAX that ground people in the tower cannot see the taxiways,” Sinclair said. “You could see that that would be a risk.” Frontier said in a statement that “no injuries were reported to passengers or crew. We thank our crew for their vigilance and professionalism.”