A Swiss crew defused a potentially dangerous incident at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in April 2024. The Airbus A330-300 (HB-JHD) was given clearance to take off on runway 4L when air traffic control allowed four other aircraft to cross the runway at the same time. The pilots of the Swiss plane aborted the takeoff and reported over the radio: "Aborted takeoff, traffic on the runway".
The Swiss Air Accident Authority (SUST) published details of the incident in May. The Swiss plane reached a speed of 50 knots before the crash and was about 800 feet into the takeoff run. The closest distance to the first aircraft crossing was about 1,4 kilometers. The planes affected were Delta 29 from Nice, American Airlines 2246 from Dallas, Delta 420 from Dallas and Republic Airways 5752 from Boston.
After the incident, the Swiss plane rolled off the runway and successfully took off towards Zurich six minutes later. Switzerland is supporting the investigation by the US air accident authority NTSB.
In recent months, similar situations have occurred more frequently at US airports, which is attributed, among other things, to a lack of staff in air traffic control. According to the New York Times, there were 300 near-accidents in the USA within a year, as the FAA currently employs fewer air traffic controllers than it did in 2000.