American Airlines Aborts Takeoff After Jet Crosses Runway

A quick-thinking cockpit crew in Miami may have prevented the next headline-grabbing runway disaster. An American Airlines flight to Bermuda screeched its takeoff roll to a halt Friday evening after pilots spotted a business jet crossing the active runway at Miami International Airport, despite air-traffic controllers having cleared AA Flight 308 for departure. The Federal Aviation Administration says the other aircraft crossed "without authorization" and is investigating, reports Fox News.

Air traffic recordings capture the confusion, with a controller telling the business jet, "You just crossed an active runway." The NetJets Flight EJA434 pilot responds, per CNN, "You just told me to cross the runway, sir." "No, we said Amerijet 461," the controller says. NetJets says the jet was under a third-party operator's control at the time. The American flight later departed and landed about two hours late, as US airports brace for heavy July Fourth traffic amid a string of recent close calls.