Two aircraft nearly crashed on the runway at Washington, D.C.’s smallest regional airport on Wednesday. The FAA is investigating how Boston-bound American Airlines flight 2134 was cleared for takeoff at Ronald Reagan airport even as a private plane was set to land on a cross-runway. In hair-raising audio captured by LiveATC.com, air traffic control can be heard canceling the American Airlines Airbus 319’s takeoff at the last minute to avoid impact. “American 2134, cancel takeoff clearance,” a controller says. Then, in a panic, the controller tells the private plane to circle the airport instead of landing on the cross-runway: “Zero Alpha Alpha, go around, go around!” But the small plane had already touched down; the American jet had already begun its takeoff roll as the other plane was landing and about to coast across the runway, according to flight path data from adsbexchange.com. Thankfully, the American pilot was able to abort at the last second, avoiding a collision—the plane was accelerating at about 92 mph when he hit the brakes.
