Shock at JFK: How plane nearly collided with 4 other planes on takeoff – Pilot saved them

A near-tragedy would strike on April 17 at New York’s JFK Airport.

According to US media, a Swiss Air flight bound for Zurich almost collided with four other aircraft due to a miscommunication with the control tower.

Just before 5 p.m. local time, the flight was cleared for takeoff and began to speed down the runway, with the pilot fortunately managing to apply the brakes in time after noticing that air traffic controllers had given the go-ahead, at the same time, for four other planes.

Swiss Air praised the quick reflexes of the staff following the pilot’s life-saving initiative to abort his course and thus avoid a potential tragedy.

“Due to the extensive experience and quick reaction of our crew, a potentially dangerous situation was quickly de-escalated,” Swiss Air said in a statement.

Expert Explains What May Have Happened at JFK -Excerpt from flight communication

Al Yurman, a professional air safety researcher working for the National Transportation Safety Board, referring to air traffic control audio from the tense moments on April 17, said: “Obviously what happened was that the controller in the tower left the Swiss Air to take off. The ground controller told those three aircraft there in separate areas to cross the runway, the active runway.”

In an excerpt from the communication the involved planes had with the control tower, the Swiss flight can be heard saying “take-off refused, runway movement”. The JFK tower then reports to a Delta flight: “Delta, no. Be late please.” “Do you receive? Swiss 17K heavy,” the Swiss flight then says. “Swiss 17K, received, continued on runway, exit 31L,” JFK tower replies.

Yurman showed CBS New York the diagram of JFK Airport, where the planes were cleared to fly through. “If you’re landing on a runway, to get to the terminal, you have to go across,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident to ensure proper safety procedures were followed and to prevent similar incidents in the future. Yurman said it could have been a matter of miscommunication between air and ground control, but added it was too early to tell.

Contacted by the auditors’ union, all they told CBS is that it is their policy not to comment during an open investigation. Last week the FAA announced it would increase the number of hours of rest between shifts in air traffic control. It also plans to increase staff. But again, authorities said it’s too early to say what factors led to the April 17 incident.

A similar incident occurred at JFK in 2023

A similar incident occurred at JFK in 2023. The pilots of an American Airlines plane taxied to the wrong runway at JFK on January 13, 2023 – in the path of another aircraft that was about to take off – after the captain became distracted and confused with the takeoff instructions and the co-pilot lost the sense of their plane’s position, the NTSB revealed in documents earlier this year. Disaster was averted because an air traffic controller yelled at the pilots of the other plane, a Delta Air Lines flight, to abort their takeoff.