Alaska Airlines jet brakes to avoid collision with Southwest plane – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An Alaska Airlines jet braked abruptly on the runway during takeoff in Nashville on Thursday to avoid a possible collision with a Southwest Airlines plane. The incident is currently being investigated by federal authorities.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Alaska Airlines pilots aborted takeoff because the Southwest plane was cleared to cross the end of the same runway.

An Alaska Airlines spokesman said the pilots recognized “a potential traffic conflict on the runway” and “immediately applied the brakes to prevent the incident from escalating.”

Although no injuries were reported, the tires of the Boeing 737 Max went flat due to the extreme heat during the stop, according to the Seattle-based airline.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board said they were investigating the incident, which occurred around 9:15 a.m. at Nashville International Airport.

Southwest said it is in contact with the FAA and NTSB and will participate in the investigation.

Alaska Airlines said the Seattle-bound flight had 176 passengers and six crew members on board. The plane is currently being checked and another plane has been dispatched to bring the passengers to Seattle by Thursday evening, the airline said.

“We are grateful for the expertise of our pilots, who immediately applied the brakes to prevent the incident from escalating,” the airline said.

A series of near misses, also known as “runway incursions,” over the past two years have raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said last November that while the incidents were “incredibly rare” compared to the number of flights, they showed that the aviation system was under pressure.

Some of the incidents were blamed on pilots failing to follow air traffic controllers' instructions, but the worst near-miss – a FedEx jet landing in Austin, Texas, flew over the roof of a Southwest jet taking off on a foggy morning in February 2023 – was blamed on an air traffic controller's error.

Thursday's incident came just days after two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a tarmac at Atlanta's airport, with the larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet. No injuries were reported.