FAA investigating close call between jetliners on runway at Washington, D.C., airport

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate after a flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was instructed to cross a runway where another flight was starting its takeoff, the agency said.

A JetBlue flight was starting its takeoff roll on runway 4 at the airport in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., around 7:41 a.m. Thursday, when an air traffic controller instructed a Southwest Airlines flight to cross the same runway, the FAA said in a statement. The agency will investigate the event.

Southwest Airlines Flight 2937, which was bound for Orlando, Florida, took off from the airport at 7:47 a.m., according to FlightAware, which tracks flight activity. JetBlue flight 1554 was bound for Boston and according to FlightAware, the flight took off from Reagan National at 1:48 p.m.

JetBlue said in a statement that the flight aborted takeoff because of another aircraft trying to cross the runway, but no injuries were reported. The aircraft was inspected before it left for Boston and JetBlue said it will “work closely with federal officials as this event is fully investigated.” Southwest said in a statement that it was aware of the incident and was “working with the FAA to fully understand the circumstances.”