Two planes almost collided on one of the runways at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced an investigation into the matter on Friday.
The JetBlue and Southwest Airlines planes avoided each other by just 400 feet (122 meters).
Air traffic control recordings showed controllers yelling at the JetBlue flight to stop taking off as the Southwest flight began taxiing on the runway.
“An air traffic controller directed Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 to cross Runway 4 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport while JetBlue Flight 1554 began its takeoff roll on the same runway,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.
“JetBlue 1554, stop! 1554, stop!” the tower controller said.
“2937, stop!” the ground controller said.
It was around 7:41 a.m. Thursday morning local time. The JetBlue flight was headed to Boston and the Southwest Airlines flight was headed to Orlando.
In a statement, JetBlue said the flight aborted takeoff because another plane attempted to cross the runway, but no injuries were reported.
The plane was inspected before departing for Boston, and JetBlue added that it “will work closely with federal authorities as this incident is fully investigated.”
For its part, Southwest said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was “working with the FAA to fully understand the circumstances.”