A UPS cargo plane had to abort its landing in Louisville last week when a small plane crossed the runway just as it approached.
The air traffic controller yelled “Skylab 25, stop!” at the small plane before quickly orderi
ng the UPS plane to pull up a
nd perform a maneuver called a go-around to avert another tragedy at Louisville’s Muhamma
d Ali International Airport, which is a major hub for UPS. The audio was posted online by www.LiveATC.net.
Just last November, a UPS plane crashed after an engine fell off as it was rolling down the ru
nway to take off. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday that it
plans to hold two days of investigative hearings starting May 19 to learn more
about why the crash that killed 14 people happened.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in this latest incident, which happened about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday.
Right after the cargo plane safely pulled up, the controller asked “Skylab 25, what are you doing?”
The pilot responded “Skylab 25, yeah, sorry about that.”
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The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
UPS said in a statement that its pilot followed standard procedures to perform a go-around
and there was no impact on the package delivery giant’s operations.
Close calls like this happen somewhere frequently. Just last week, a Frontier Airlines jet n
early collided with two tru
cks that crossed in front of it as it was taxiing at slow speeds at Los Angeles International Airpo
rt. In a separate incident earlier this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, an American Airlines pilot
told the tower he had to slam on the brakes when a truck crossed in front of him on a taxiway.
Last month, an Air Canada plane landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York smashed into a fire truck th
at had been cleared to cross the runway less than 2
0 seconds earlier. Both pilots were killed and dozens were injured in that crash.
