An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 had to abort its takeoff because a Southwest 737 crossed the runway. Both flights had clearance, and due to heavy braking, the first's main runway tires deflated.
The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 MAX, registration number N919AK, was scheduled to operate the airline's AS 369 flight between Nashville and Seattle with 176 people on board.
The flight was cleared to take off from runway 13, which the crew repeated, and then took off.
At a speed of about 100 knots (185 km/h), the pilots decided to abort the takeoff and began to brake hard because another aircraft was crossing the runway in front of them.
An Alaska Airlines plane had a possible close call with a Southwest flight in Nashville today. The place was very surprising, as the plane's tires blew out while braking.
@Erin NBC News He has the latest details on the incident. pic.twitter.com/ReBEmvwOn2— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) September 12, 2024
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration N225WN, operating the airline's flight WN 2029 between Nashville and Jacksonville, was taxiing to Runway 20C for takeoff.
Its crew had previously obtained clearance from air traffic control to cross Runway 13 at its far end, despite the fact that the other aircraft had just begun operating on the same runway.
The Alaskan returned to the station after the aborted takeoff, but due to heavy braking, the main landing gear became so hot that the tires deflated as it moved across the apron, rendering the aircraft immobile.
There were no injuries, and authorities are investigating the incident. There was no information about the minimum distance between the two planes.
This year, it wasn’t the first time such a case had happened in the United States. In April, for example, a Swiss Airbus A330-300 had to be aborted at New York’s JFK airport because several planes were crossing the runway in front of it. All were cleared, and in May, an American Airlines Airbus A319 was cleared to take off while a Super King Air was landing on another runway that crossed the runway.
As you may remember, at the beginning of this year at Tokyo-Haneda Airport, an A350 collided with a military Dash 8 aircraft because the latter entered the runway without permission.
#break Alaska Airlines plane cancels takeoff at Nashville airport, inflating tires to avoid collision with Southwest Airlines plane
Alaska Airlines Flight 369 was cleared to take off from Nashville International Airport Thursday morning, but the pilots on board… pic.twitter.com/tdjuCdMUAW
— Upuk News (@upuknews1) September 12, 2024
