Recordings from JFK Airport's air traffic control tower reveal that a Lufthansa plane nearly collided with an EgyptAir plane on Monday. And it happened on the ground. The Daily News reports that the "EgyptAir flight... had taxied into" the "packed" Lufthansa Airbus A340's "path at Kennedy Airport." One controller yelled, "Cancel takeoff! Cancel takeoff plans!"
LiveATC.net has the recordings, which has the Lufthansa pilot saying, "Lufthansa 411 heavy is rejecting takeoff," and the controller tells other planes, "All traffic is stopped right now." How did this happen? Apparently the EgyptAir plane made a wrong turn onto a runway: "The error occurred just as the Munich-bound Lufthansa flight was approaching full lift-off speed of 180 mph less than a mile away."
Other pilots were shocked by the near miss, and were saying things like, "That was quite a show. I thought it was going to be a short career." The planes took off later; the FAA is investigating.
Earlier this year, a flight from JFK nearly collided with two military planes.
