Jet Crosses Runway, Asked To Hold-Short

FAA investigators are looking into an incident at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) where a jet taxied onto a runway as an inbound flight was landing. The FAA investigation comes after a near-miss at the Newark airport Thursday night--just one day after a GAO report ranked the Newark airport as one of the most dangerous for runway accidents.

Two Continental Airline jets had a near miss Thursday just before 9 p.m. and the planes actually came within 300-feet of one another, according to WNBC.com. The Federal Aviation Administration confirms the "incursion" happened as Continental Flight 573 was landing on Runway 22 Left. Meanwhile, a Continental Express jet, Flight 2558, was on taxiway Zulu at the end of the runway on its way to another runway, the FAA said.

The pilot of the second plane acknowledged instructions to "hold short" of the runway, but then went ahead and crossed it just as the larger jet was about to touch down, said the FAA.

"There's a training problem there, and the first thing the FAA is going to look at is the training procedures," said retired pilot J.P. Tristani. Tristani a seasoned pilot, said he has landed at Newark hundreds of times in his 40-years of flying. Tristani predicted the pilot who failed to hold short, will have some answering to do.

"He is in a precarious position about proper procedures in terms of moving your aircraft around an airport," Tristani said.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, issued a statement about the incursion. "It seems like just about every day, there are new signs of danger and dysfunction at Newark, with a high risk of runway accidents, with a spike in minimum fuel landings and with the worst congestion and delays in the nation," the statement said.

Newark is not alone as far as incursions are concerned, a similar event happened at the Baltimore airport this week, as reported by ANN.

But despite the incidents, some still believe flying is the safest form of transportation.

"When you add up the number of people hurt on the highway every day, there are more people hurt on the highway than on airplanes," said Deborah Graham of Montclair. The Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday said Newark ranked ninth for runway incursions in recent years.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.gao.gov, www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/html/newarkliberty.html