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A Frontier Airlines aircraft narrowly avoided a serious collision with two trucks at Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week. Unlike last month’s tragic incident in New York, where a plane crashed while landing, this situation unfolded on a taxiway as the plane was moving slowly.
The pilot, visibly shaken, communicated his alarm to the control tower, using an expletive to express the urgency of the situation. He reported having to brake suddenly to prevent an accident late Wednesday night. “It was real close. The closest I have ever seen,” he stated in audio shared by ATC.com.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported from this incident, which is now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. According to the agency, several vehicles crossed in front of the aircraft on a service road at approximately 11:25 p.m. that evening.
Frontier Airlines expressed gratitude for the crew’s quick thinking and professionalism in a statement following the incident.
In contrast, the March 22 incident involved an Air Canada plane carrying 76 passengers that collided with a fire truck during its landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, resulting in the tragic death of both pilots and injuries to numerous passengers.
In that crash, an air traffic controller cleared the fire truck to cross the runway less than 20 seconds beforehand. Then seconds later the controller frantically called for the fire truck to stop.
The incident in Los Angeles appears to have happened in an area of the airport where the planes are communicating with air traffic controllers about their movements, but ground vehicles are simply supposed to yield to any planes, which are typically moving only about 15 mph (24 kph). Airport officials didn’t respond immediately to questions about what happened and what procedures are in place to prevent collisions.
Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, who was a longtime United Airlines pilot, said these kind of incidents happen daily on taxiways across the country, but don’t normally get any attention because the collision is avoided. The issue will undoubtedly get more attention now.
“Multiple incidents, accidents happening, just in March alone, I think it’s time to put some serious eyes on what’s going on on the ramp,” Arroyo said.