The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report on a January 13 runway incursion at JFK International Airport. The incident involved an American Airlines 777-200 (Flight 106) that was taxiing and a Delta Air Lines 737-900ER (Flight 1453) that had been cleared for takeoff on Runway 4L.
In the NTSB’s February 10 report, investigators provided a straightforward analysis of the taxi instructions that were provided to American Flight 106: “AA 106 was instructed to taxi from the ramp to Runway 4L via taxiway B and hold short of taxiway K. As the aircraft left the ramp, the ground controller cleared AA 106 to cross Runway 31L at Taxiway K. Upon reaching the Taxiway B/Taxiway K intersection, AA 106 continued straight to taxiway J crossing runway 4L without ATC clearance.”
The Airport Surface Detection System issued an alert to ATC of a pending conflict and controllers canceled the Delta flight's takeoff clearance; that flight crew immediately aborted and came to a stop 500 feet short of Taxiway J. The two aircraft came within 1,400 feet of each other as the Delta jet decelerated and the American airliner continued off the active runway.
The NTSB report and a subsequent statement from the board highlighted two key points: the cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) of both aircraft were overwritten and the American Airlines flight crew, on three occasions both virtually and in-person, refused to participate in audio-recorded interviews with investigators. Consequently, also on February 10, the NTSB issued subpoenas to obtain their appearance, in person, at the board’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Delta flight crew has submitted written statements on the incident that the board deemed “...sufficient information for NTSB investigative purposes given their role in the incident.”
CVRs currently preserve two hours of audio communications within the cockpit. However, since 2018 the NTSB has been urging the FAA to act on a recommendation for use of extended CVRs, which would possess at least 25 hours of recording capability. The recommendation listed nearly three dozen incidents and accidents where CVRs were overwritten, either by continued operation of the flight or when an event’s significance was not initially identified by flight crew or air traffic controllers and thus information was not preserved.
American Airlines did not respond to AIN’s email query concerning company policy on CVR preservation in event situations, so it is unclear whether the decision to allow the CVR to be overwritten after the January runway incursion was made inside or outside the cockpit. After the incident, the American Airlines crew took off and continued to the destination, while the Delta crew returned to the gate to assess any potential damage from the aborted takeoff.
Shortly after the NTSB issued its preliminary report and statement, the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union representing American Airlines pilots, published a formal registration of concern for the NTSB’s “recent insistence on electronically recording crew interviews during investigations.” While declaring its support for the board’s role in accident investigations, the APA emphasized its belief that use of “electronic recording devices” in witness interviews was more likely to be a hindrance than a help. It further noted that NTSB incident investigations traditionally include requests for interviews with crew members from which notes provided a sufficient record.
The NTSB was unable to supply AIN with the exact date when it began conducting audio recording of witness statements but noted that it recorded interviews during the investigation into the June 2, 1999, crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas. (The accident docket includes a reference to that transcript.) In a cursory search, AIN found transcripts for Part 91, Part 135, and Part 121 operators throughout the last decade, including more than 1,500 pages of transcripts in the docket attached to PenAir flight 3296, which crashed in 2019, and over 1,000 pages for Transair flight 810 from 2021. Those Part 121 investigations included extensive flight crew interviews.