A passenger jet at New York’s LaGuardia airport narrowly avoided disaster earlier this month when it was forced to slam on the brakes during takeoff to avoid smashing into another plane that was still on the runway. “The stop was as hard as any car accident I’ve been in,” said passenger Renee Hoffer about the incident, which took place on May 6. Hoffer ended up in the emergency room after suffering neck injuries and a numb left arm. The close call happened because a United Airlines plane was attempting to taxi off the runway while another air traffic controller on a different frequency cleared a nearby Republic Airways jet for takeoff without realizing the United plane was still on the runway. “Sorry, I thought United had cleared well before that,” the controller can be heard telling the pilot in audio of the incident obtained by ABC. Hoffer said that airport staff refused to compensate passengers with hotel vouchers following the near miss at 12:30 a.m., blaming the incident on the weather. Hoffer had a phone app that clearly showed the other plane on the runway. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident, they announced on Monday.
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