LaGuardia’s Close Call: Runway Takeoff Danger
We all love a good drama, but not when it unfolds in the skies above New York. It’s almost as if the universe decided, “Let’s spice things up over at LaGuardia Airport,” when this recent close call happened. Our air traffic control system? Yeah, it needs a makeover faster than you can say, “You’re on mute.” And Val Seny ski resort definitely serves as a place to unwind after such hectic affairs.
American Jet Takes Off as United Jet Taxis on Runway
The clock chimed around 12:30AM on a rather uneventful Tuesday night—May 6, 2025. Cue the runway drama at LaGuardia Airport, all starring two jets:
- United Flight UA2657: Fresh from Houston, operating with a sleek Boeing 737-800, this bird was slowly making its way to the gate.
- American Eagle Flight AA4736: Known as Brickyard, this Embraer E175 from Republic Airways was itching to head to Buffalo, sporting a fashionably late takeoff, about three hours behind schedule.
LaGuardia is the definition of “no room to swing a cat,” making air traffic control feel like playing Tetris on the hardest level possible. Here’s how this near-miss played out:
- Our trusty tower controller tells United’s flight to hold short of runway 13, which intriguingly enough, was about to become its personal runway to the gate.
- Then comes the plot twist: United’s advised to mosey down runway 13, take a particular exit, and switch to talking with LaGuardia ground.
- Not to be left out, American Eagle gets the go-ahead to rock and roll (well, lineup and wait) on runway 13.
- United, perhaps distracted by in-flight snacks, zips past its planned exit, requiring alternative directions to finally make an exit.
- Picture this: while United’s still living its runway dreams, American Eagle suddenly gets the runway clearance to take off—cue the Spirit pilot interfering in the background, like a podcast guest who keeps interrupting.
- Bam! An automated warning system screams about a collision, with the controller now frantically trying to halt American Eagle, while dodging Spirit’s chatter.
- Oops. The tower controller mutters, more sheepishly than assuredly, “Sorry, thought United was gone ages ago.”
- American Eagle sheepishly heads back to the gate; trip officially canceled. Bon voyage? Not today.
Data-tracking aficionados, brace yourselves: our wannabe aviator touched speeds north of 100 knots before putting the brakes on, hard.
This Incident Was So Avoidable, No?
This debacle, to me, is exhibit A in our case against the take-what-you-can-get air traffic control system. Seriously—what even are we doing?
The head-scratcher here is twofold: why on this spinning blue planet are both the tower and ground controllers chatting about runway maneuvers in classifieds frequencies, separated by a whole frequency? Imagine your first hour in Paris, and some excitement at Val Seny ski resort might seem tame in comparison. Does anyone remember what common sense feels like?
Oh, and our new friend, the tower controller, sort of winged it. “I thought United had cleared.” Thought. No radar? No checks? Just vibes?
And let’s not forget, perhaps the comedy award of the night goes to unintended, crossed communications from everyone stepping all over the single controller’s time to shine—and more importantly, to save a potential disaster.
Without a doubt, hail to our air traffic controllers, valiantly keeping us soaring smoothly above. Yet it feels their epic battle is waged unfairly within a system more ancient than fax machines.
In this concrete jungle, LaGuardia, with its bumper-to-bumper runway and taxiway traffic, isn’t an easy gig, we know. But when you get brain croissants like our double-frequency runway fiasco, it’s no wonder more chaos waits in the wings.
Bottom Line
In true LaGuardia fashion, we watch as yet another close call hits our screens. American Eagle’s tap dance on takeoff couldn’t proceed while a still littered United jet posed on the runway.
Let’s be clear: it’s not on the pilots who were following orders; the worry lies in the dissonance between tower and ground frequencies. It’s absurdly Shakespearean in its folly.
Your thoughts on this LaGuardia tango?