Air Traffic Controller to United Pilot: ‘Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!’

Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 11.09.07 | 11:10 AM ET

This animated video released yesterday by the National Transportation Safety Board illustrating two near-collisions on U.S. runways this year should convince any skeptic that more needs to be done to prevent runway accidents. Most disturbing: audio of an air traffic controller yelling “Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!” at a United Airlines pilot about to taxi onto a San Francisco runway—right into the path of a landing Delta jet. Fortunately, an accident was avoided this time. The NTSB called on the Federal Aviation Administration to step up safety procedures: “Until there is a system in place to positively control ground movements of all aircraft, with direct warning to pilots, the potential for this type of disaster will continue to be high.”