(CNN) – The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it has launched an investigation into how a commercial airliner ran into front of a flight that was taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday night.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew of the Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 aborted its takeoff, eventually coming to a stop 1,000 feet from the American Airlines Boeing 777. No one was injured in the accident, which occurred around 8:45 p.m. Friday.
The FAA said in a statement that air traffic controllers “observed another aircraft crossing the runway in front of the departing aircraft.” “According to a preliminary analysis, Delta Airlines Flight 1943 stopped its takeoff roll about 1,000 feet before reaching the point where American Airlines Flight 106, a Boeing 777, crossed an adjacent taxiway.”
According to Delta, its flight — a 737-900 bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic — had 145 customers and six crew members on board.
Delta said the flight returned to the gate and then was unable to depart due to staffing issues. The flight eventually departed Saturday morning, and Delta said it has offered customers a hotel stay.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always Delta’s number one priority,” Delta said in a statement to CNN, adding that it will cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board on any analysis.
“Delta will work with and assist the NTSB in a full review of Flight 1943 on January 13 in connection with an aborted takeoff procedure at New York-JFK. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay to their flights.”
The NTSB has not yet said it is investigating the incident.
American Airlines did not comment, referring all questions to the Federal Aviation Administration. FlightAware data shows that American Airlines Flight 106 was a London Heathrow-bound flight that took off on time Friday night from JFK and arrived on time in London on Saturday morning.
