Delta flight aborts takeoff after Learjet makes wrong turn at New Orleans airport
NEW ORLEANS - A Delta flight abruptly aborted a takeoff after a Learjet made the wrong turn on a runway at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on March 31.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the air traffic controller told the Delta flight to halt out of an abundance of caution.
"An air traffic controller cancelled the takeoff clearance for Delta Air Lines Flight 1482 after a Learjet landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and made a wrong turn onto a taxiway," the FAA said in a statement to FOX Television Stations. "The Learjet never crossed the hold short line. The controller cancelled the takeoff clearance for the Delta Airbus A321 out of an abundance of caution."
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Dallas Richins was a passenger onboard the Delta flight and was heading to Salt Lake City.
"It was the first time I’ve really been scared on an airplane -- and I’ve landed in Tucson with a fire truck spraying foam -- and it didn’t bother me as bad as last night," Richins told Fox 8.
Richins also told the outlet passengers remained on the plane for 45 minutes afterwards to let the brakes cool down.
FOX Television Stations reached out to Delta for a comment.
The incident is the latest string of runway incidents and other close calls the FAA is investigating. The administration addressed those past incidents at a safety summit last month.
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Among the other recent incidents now being investigated:
— Last week pilots of a small airliner aborted their landing in Burbank, California, after a controller cleared another plane to take off from the same runway; the NTSB is investigating.
— A United Airlines jet crossed a runway at Honolulu International Airport in front of a Cessna cargo plane that was landing on the same runway on Jan. 23.
— The NTSB took the rare step of issuing subpoenas for pilots of an American Airlines plane that crossed a runway that a Delta Air Lines jet was using to take off Jan. 13 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The American pilots initially refused to sit for recorded interviews, but they complied after getting subpoenas, Homendy said.
— Federal officials are taking another look at an incident in which a United Airlines jet taking off from Hawaii dove to within 800 feet of the ocean before recovering. United says pilots of the December flight are getting additional training.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.