FAA investigates close call on LAX taxiway just weeks after LaGuardia runway crash
A Frontier Airlines jet nearly collided with two passing trucks at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week, but unlike last month fatal accident While a plane was landing in New York, this incident occurred while the plane was moving slowly on the taxiway.
The Frontier pilot became alarmed and used profanity as he told the tower he needed to apply the brakes to avoid a collision late Wednesday. “It was really close. It’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said in the audio recorded by ATC.com.
No one was injured in the incident, which is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said multiple vehicles on the service road passed in front of the plane around 11:25 p.m. Wednesday.
“We thank our team for their attentiveness and professionalism,” Frontier Airlines said in a statement.
Air Canada jet carrying 76 people on March 22 collided with a fire truck It killed both pilots and injured dozens of people while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
In this accident, an air traffic controller allowed the fire truck to cross the runway less than 20 seconds earlier. Then, seconds later, the controller frantically asked for the fire truck to stop.
The incident in Los Angeles appears to have occurred in an area of the airport where planes communicate with air traffic controllers about their movements, but ground vehicles are generally only expected to yield to any aircraft traveling at about 15 mph. Airport officials did not immediately respond to questions about what happened and what procedures were in place to prevent collisions.
Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a longtime United Airlines pilot, said such incidents occur every day on taxiways across the country but normally go unnoticed because the collision is avoided. Undoubtedly, this issue will now attract more attention.
“There are so many incidents, accidents, just in March alone; I think it’s time to take a serious look at what’s going on on the ramp,” Arroyo said.
