SWR17K Rejects Takeoff at KJFK due to Traffic on the Runway

[RonR]

On April 17, SWR17K was cleared for takeoff on KJFK's runway 4L and had accelerated to about 40Kts when the flight crew rejected the takeoff because of traffic on the runway.  Several aircraft had previously landed on the parallel runway 4R and were given clearance to cross runway 4L.  The flight crew of SWR17K spotted the crossing traffic and stopped their takeoff roll.  They exited runway 4L at the crossing runway 31L and taxied back to the departure end of runway 4L and took off about 15 minutes later.  At the time, runway 4L was being handled by tower frequency 123.9 and 4R was handled by tower frequency 119.1

[davisdog]

Wow, it wasnt just one plane on the runway, sounds like 3 planes were cleared to cross 4L right after SWR17K was cleared to start it's takeoff roll on 4L.

[KB4TEZ]

Yep !

[RonR]

Yes it appears to be true that all three aircraft were cleared to cross runway 4L, but only two of them (DAL29 and AAL2246) were actually crossing the runway at the time SWR17K rejected their takeoff.  DAL420 had clearance to cross but was still on the parallel taxiway Yankee at the time.  Just thankful that the good visibility at the time allowed the SWR17K flight crew to see what was going on and stop the takeoff roll.

[Rick108]

Maybe JFK needs to figure out how to manage 4L and 4R on the same frequency.  In this case, there was no way for the 3 crews cleared to cross 4L to hear the takeoff clearance, or any way for the departing Swiss flight to know that 3 aircraft were being cleared to cross their departing runway, because they were on different frequencies.  I imagine all 4 crews would have picked up on the impending conflict immediately if they had the full picture, but were denied the situational awareness they should have had.

Everyone is very lucky the timing worked out as it did - a few seconds difference and there easily could have been three or even four fully-loaded airliners involved in what would probably have been the worst accident in aviation history!


I hope something significant comes from this investigation - we can't continue to rely on luck and angels forever...