NBC’s Kathy Park spoke to a passenger who was on board one of the flights during the moment of panic.
A close call at John F. Kennedy International Airport made for a terrifying Friday the 13th.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a Delta Air Lines flight bound for Santo Domingo was in the midst of takeoff procedures down Runaway 4 when another jet crossed in its path.
Around 8:45 p.m. Friday, officials said an American Airlines plane crossed over from an adjacent taxiway and into the path of the departing Delta flight.
Air traffic controllers were able to alert the pilots aboard Delta flight 1943, who slammed on the brakes with about 1,000 feet to spare, the FAA said.
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"Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!” an air controller said in an audio recording of Air Traffic Control communications.
Brian Healy, a passenger on the Delta flight, said at first he thought the abrupt stop was a mechanical issue.
“There was this abrupt jerk of the plane, and everyone was sort of thrust forward from the waist,” he recalled. “There was an audible reaction when the brakes happened, like a gasp. And then there was a total silence for a couple of seconds.”
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Healy, who was traveling with his husband for their winter getaway to the Dominican Republic, said it wasn’t until he was scrolling on Twitter the next day that he realized the gravity of what could have happened on that runway.
“The pilot made the call to only share information on a need-to-know basis, and that was absolutely the right call, because it would’ve been pandemonium,” he said.
According to Flight Aware, the American Airlines flight to departing for London was able to take off the same night after a short delay of roughly 30 minutes. The Delta flight, however, was delayed until the next morning.
"Delta will work with and assist aviation authorities on a full review of flight 1943 on Jan. 13 regarding an aborted takeoff procedure at New York-JFK. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay of their travels," the airliner said in a statement.
American Airlines did not comment, but deferred to the FAA.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
