UPS plane aborts landing in Louisville after small plane crosses its runway in latest close call

By JOSH FUNK, AP Transportation Writer

A UPS cargo plane had to abort its landing in Louisville earlier this week when a small plane crossed the runway just as it approached.

The air traffic controller yelled “Skylab 25, stop!” at the small plane before quickly ordering the UPS plane to pull up and perform a maneuver called a go-around to avert another tragedy at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, which is a major hub for UPS. The audio was posted online by www.LiveATC.net.

Just last November, a UPS plane crashed after an engine fell off as it was rolling down the runway to take off. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Thursday that it plans to hold two days of investigative hearings starting May 19 to learn more about why the crash that killed 14 people happened.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in this latest incident, which happened about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday.

Right after the cargo plane safely pulled up, the controller asked “Skylab 25, what are you doing?”

The pilot responded “Skylab 25, yeah, sorry about that.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

Close calls like this happen somewhere frequently. Just last week, a Frontier Airlines jet nearly collided with two trucks that crossed in front of it as it was taxiing at slow speeds at Los Angeles International Airport. In a separate incident earlier this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, an American Airlines pilot told the tower he had to slam on the brakes when a truck crossed in front of him on a taxiway.

Last month, an Air Canada plane landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York smashed into a fire truck that had been cleared to cross the runway less than 20 seconds earlier. Both pilots were killed and dozens were injured in that crash.