Fri Sep 13 00:16:00 UTC 2024: ## Close Call at Nashville Airport: Alaska Airlines Plane Aborts Takeoff to Avoid Collision
Nashville, TN – A close call involving an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 and a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 at Nashville International Airport on Thursday morning has raised concerns about aviation safety.
The Alaska Airlines flight, carrying 176 passengers and six crew members, aborted its takeoff after receiving clearance from air traffic control, narrowly avoiding a potential collision with the Southwest Airlines plane which was cleared to cross the runway.
The incident, which occurred around 9:15am local time, prompted immediate investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
According to the FAA, the Southwest Airlines flight was cleared to cross the end of the same runway as the Alaska Airlines flight. The Alaska Airlines pilots quickly applied the brakes, preventing a collision. However, the braking caused the Boeing 737 MAX 9’s tires to blow.
The NTSB is investigating whether the new surface awareness technology, scheduled for installation at Nashville airport by July, was operational at the time of the incident. The FAA is also investigating the incident and declined to comment on the technology’s status.
Alaska Airlines is providing refunds and $1000 to passengers affected by the incident, acknowledging the distress caused.
This incident follows a series of near-misses in recent years, prompting concerns about aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations. In June, the NTSB determined that an air traffic controller’s misjudgment led to a near-collision between a FedEx and Southwest aircraft in Austin, Texas.
The NTSB has called for low-visibility training for controllers and faster deployment of technology at airports to prevent future near-collisions.
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