Departing Republic Airways plane has near-miss with taxiing United jet due to apparent controller flub at LaGuardia Airport

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Two planes at LaGuardia Airport had a recent near-miss following an apparent miscommunication between controllers — and now the incident is under federal investigation.
The runway collision almost occurred May 6 when a departing Republic Airways jet barreled into the path of a United Airlines plane that was still taxiing across the runway. The jet was forced to abort takeoff.
Tower audio from the terrifying incident obtained by ABC from LiveATC reveals an air traffic controller telling the Republic Airways pilot, 'Sorry, I thought United had cleared well before that.'
As the controller was directing the Republic Airways jet about to take off, a ground controller on another radio frequency was directing the United aircraft to a new taxiway to exit the runway after it missed the first one, AP reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board announced Monday they were investigating.
LaGuardia is one of 35 US airports to be equipped with state-of-the-art FAA radar system called ASDS-X specifically designed to prevent runway close calls. However, the rate of 30 runway incursions per 1 million airport takeoffs and landings has held steady for 10 years.
The remaining 490 airports in the US use standard control towers, where air traffic controllers are still using antiquated technology like binoculars to monitor aircraft on the ground.
Systems like ASDS-X are on Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's wish list if Congress passes his multibillion-dollar plan to bring America's aging air traffic control infrastructure up to date. Duffy last month decried the outdated technology relied upon by air traffic control towers as consisting of 'copper wire and floppy disks.'
LaGuardia has said it plans to install additional measures to help further mitigate similar near-miss incidents.
The close call is just the latest in a series of airplane mishaps at some of the busiest airports in the US. Newark Liberty International Airport has been beset by system outages over recent weeks because of aging technology run out of Philadelphia.
In February, an American Airlines flight was forced to abort its landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, to avoid a plane taking off on the same runway.
With Post wires