Planes nearly collide on runway at LAX
LOS ANGELES – In yet another dramatic incident at Los Angeles International Airport, two airplanes came so close to colliding on a runway Saturday that one pilot can be heard hyperventilating on air traffic control tapes.
A SkyWest regional jet taking off for San Antonio had accelerated to 115 miles per hour when a Gulfstream business jet strayed in front, forcing the pilot to slam on his brakes. The SkyWest jet, with about 39 people on board, shuddered to a stop less than 100 feet from the Gulfstream.
After the incident, a shaken tower controller can be heard on the radio apologizing to the SkyWest pilot and asking him to immediately leave the runway to make room for a landing aircraft.
“SkyWest 6430, I apologize, we never talked to the Gulfstream, he crossed without a clearance,” said the controller, who was so traumatized by the near collision that she left her post seconds later. “I apologize. If you could make a right turn, please, and exit the runway.”
The SkyWest pilot comes on to the frequency next.
“Exiting right,” he said, exhaling heavily.
Controllers in the tower at LAX – the world’s fifth-busiest passenger airport – said it was the closest they’ve ever seen two airplanes come to each other at the facility without actually colliding. Aviation officials agreed the incident is likely to be classified as the most serious close call at LAX since 2000. It was the eighth near miss at LAX this year, compared to six in 2005.
The close call comes just nine weeks after a serious near collision at LAX involving two airliners on the same runway and underscores long-standing safety issues with the airport’s geometry. The airfield’s unusual layout, which features two sets of parallel runways, requires pilots who land on an outer runway to cross the inner runway on a series of taxiways.
The rate of close calls at LAX has remained high despite years of efforts by local and federal officials to ensure that pilots and controllers follow federal rules allowing only one plane at a time on or near a runway. Among the nation’s airports, LAX is unusual because airplanes cross active runways about 900 times a day.
On Thursday, airport officials said such incidents should be prevented once construction workers finish moving the southernmost runway 55 feet and installing a center taxiway that pilots can use to turn and wait for clearance to cross the inner runway.
When that project is completed and the center taxiway opened in July 2008, “pilots will be directed on a route that will reduce the likelihood of them inadvertently crossing an active runway without authorization,” said Paul Haney, deputy executive director of airports and security for the city agency that operates LAX.