NEED TO KNOW
- On Friday, June 26, an American Airlines flight aborted takeoff from Miami International Airport after spotting a private jet entering the runway
- The private jet was not authorized to be on the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration told a local news outlet
- The American Airlines flight was delayed by over two hours due to the incident
An American Airlines plane heading to Bermuda had to quickly abort takeoff to avoid a collision on the runway.
At around 6 p.m. local time on Friday, June 26, American Airlines Flight 308 aborted takeoff at Miami International Airport (MIA) after flight crew members saw another aircraft unexpectedly entering the same runway, CNN and NBC 6 South Florida reported.
An airline spokesperson said that the American Airlines plane received clearance to depart the runway before the second aircraft was spotted coming within a third of a mile of the plane, according to the outlets.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the second plane was not authorized to be on the runway, per NBC 6 South Florida.
DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty
The second aircraft was a private business jet operated by NetJets, according to the aviation news outlet AeroTime. NetJets told the outlet that the aircraft “was under the operational control of a third-party maintenance vendor at the time of the incident.”
A heated exchange between the pilot and air traffic control can be heard in an audio recording of the incident obtained by CNN.
“You just crossed an active runway,” the air traffic controller said, per the outlet
“You just told me to cross the runway, sir,” the pilot replied.
“No, we said Amerijet 461,” the controller responded.
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty
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According to the flight tracking website Flight Radar 24, American Airlines Flight 308 took off from Miami nearly two and a half hours behind schedule at 8:26 p.m., arriving in Bermuda at 11:40 p.m. local time.
The FAA is investigating the incident. No injuries were reported.
Representatives from American Airlines, Miami International Airport, NetJets and the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
