NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A close call last week between a Delta Airlines jet and a small plane at Nashville International Airport may have been closer than anyone realized, according to interviews with passengers.
" It could have been really awful -- not only for us, but for that little plane that wasn't paying attention and wasn't listening," said Mindy King who was on board that day.
King is a former flight attendant from Madison, Tenn. and was able to provide context from her profession and as a passenger.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates first uncovered the radio transmissions from the close call between Flight 2724, an Airbus A-321, and a single-engine Piper Cherokee that had landed just before the Delta airliner and then crossed back into the runway.
What we still do not know is whose fault this was – whether the pilot of the small plane simply made a wrong turn, whether there was a miscommunication by air traffic controllers or some combination. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating.
" I have never had that experience,” said Hendersonville’s Terry Sharp. “I've flown quite a bit – over two million miles with Delta – and I've never had that experience until this time."
Related:
Delta Airlines jet forced to make emergency stop to avoid collision at Nashville airport
Air traffic controllers expose stresses of workload inside Nashville tower
During interviews with NewsChannel 5 Investigates, passengers described their flight experience, starting with Delta Flight 2724 accelerating down the runway after getting clearance from air traffic controllers.
"The engines revved up and we started to, you know, go down the runway at 500 miles an hour or whatever it is," Mindy King recalled.
"The plane is moving very fast and so you're getting ready – you’re kind of going back in your seat because you're getting ready to go up," Terry Sharp said.
Mindy’s husband, Russ, chimed in.
“I grabbed her hand, and we started to take off. The engines revved up and felt like we started going wheels up."
What happened next sent a shudder through the cabin.
"And then all of a sudden you could tell he just really stepped on the brake,” Sharp remembered.
Russ said, “We were looking at each other like, what's happening? This is like super scary. And because of all the things that we've seen recently, honestly, I was waiting for impact."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the King couple, “How hard was this stop?"
“I thought it was hard,” Russ said, deferring to his wife.
Mindy added, “I'm a former flight attendant, so I'm used to turbulence and not necessarily stops. It wasn't your typical ‘we're just going to slow down here.’ I mean, it was ‘we're stopping.’"
We asked Mindy if she had ever experienced anything like what happened that day on Flight 2724.
"Never,” she answered emphatically.
Sharp added, " I was amazed at a plane going that fast – it seemed to be able to stop so quickly."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "How close do you think you were to lifting off?"
Sharp said his wife Kathy “felt like we had just started up.”
“I'm not sure we ever started up, but we were definitely in takeoff mode," Sharp agreed.
What the passengers did not know at the time was that the small single-engine plane had crossed into the Delta's path.
Russ described the mood in the cabin as silent and "tense."
That’s when Mindy said she got a hint about what might have gone wrong.
"I looked out the window, and I saw this small, tiny plane like going to the right of us," she said.
Everyone waited for some word from the flight crew.
“Still nothing, still crickets from the captain,” Mindy recalled, “And we were like, is he going to say anything?"
Mindy was recording on her phone when the captain finally came over the PA system.
She shared that audio with NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
“As we began our takeoff roll,” the captain can be heard telling the passengers, “That aircraft did not stop and was crossing our runway ahead of us.”
During her interview with NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Mindy became emotional, fighting back tears, as she reflected on what the experience might have been like from the pilot’s perspective.
"He was very informative, very brave. And I think, you know, there's like problems with flying. My heart goes to him for, you know, like being aware and trained and wise and proper because it could have been awful," she said.
It's an incident reminiscent of the Alaska Airlines pilot, who also averted catastrophe at Nashville International back in September, when controllers mistakenly crossed a Southwest jet into his path.
After the pilot slammed on the brakes, the tires on the plane’s landing gear deflated.
In this case, the Delta pilot explained that they would need to make sure that it was safe to proceed.
“I’m going to take care of our necessary checklist that we need to accomplish after we go through a maneuver like that – along with a phone call – and then see if we can get back upon our way,” the pilot told passengers.
He then can be heard asking everyone to remain seated and that "everything’s fine.”
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Sharp, “Do you think that was a message that was needed there in the cabin?"
“It probably was,” Sharp agreed, “I think that all that's been in the news over the years, over this past year, probably was going through people's minds."
When the Delta passengers finally got to Minneapolis, Russ had a question for the captain.
" I said, ‘Did you actually see what was happening – and that's why you stopped?’ And he said, ‘Yes, absolutely. I saw it myself.’"
In hindsight, Russ said he believes that, before Nashville controllers alerted him to the danger, the pilot had already started taking evasive action.
"So, I gave him one of these,” he recalled, making a fist bump gesture. “I gave him one of those and thanked him. It was quite a relief."
And that's why many veteran flyers often say they will not let one incident define how they feel about air travel.
"As I think you may have said and others, it seems to still be the safest way to travel,” Sharp said. “I just hope that we don't have any more instances like this."
Do you have information for my investigation? You can email me at phil.williams@newschannel5.com.