BRIEF: NTSB probes close call at Broward airport

Jul. 13--The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Wednesday's runway incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in which two airliners may have come within 100 feet of each other.

About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the crew of United Airlines Flight 1544, an Airbus A-320, received taxi clearance from the terminal to runway 9L via taxiways T7, D and B, the NTSB said.

Delta Airlines Flight 1489, a Boeing 757, arriving from Atlanta, was inbound for landing on the same runway. As United was taxiing on taxiway D near runway 9L, the tower controller noticed the airplane was going too fast and told the ground controller to tell United to stop. United stopped on the runway, 30 feet from the centerline. As Delta Flight 1489 was touching down on runway 9L, the tower controller instructed them to "go around." The airplane became airborne and the tower controllers reported that Delta flew over UAL by less than 100 feet.

The United crew stated that they missed the turn onto taxiway B. The FAA has classified the incident as a pilot deviation, because pilots failed to follow air traffic controller instructions.

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