Yahoo Autos Southwest Plane Comes Within 173 Feet of Ambulance During Takeoff in Baltimore
Near-misses have become far too common for passenger air travel in the United States. There have been six serious close calls since the start of the year. While no one has been injured or killed in an incident, the opportunity for a near-miss to become a horrific tragedy is still present. Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a call for vigilance across the entire industry and also published an analysis of a January near-miss involving an ambulance.
In case you missed it:
On January 12th, a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was cleared to take off from Runway 15R at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). WDVM reported the plane was given clearance just moments before an ambulance crossed the same runway. According to the FAA, the ambulance driver was instructed by air traffic control to cross Runway 10 and to stop short of 15R. The driver read back the incorrect instructions, “Tower 349, crossing 10 and 15R,” and proceeded to cross both runways. When the air traffic controller realized the error and corrected the driver, the ambulance had already crossed the runway.
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