A Delta Connection flight narrowly avoided disaster after the pilots accidentally contacted JFK’s control tower instead of LaGuardia moments before final approach.
Audio obtained by CBS News shows the crew of Flight 5752 from Washington D.C. attempting to confirm a landing at “Runway 4″ at LaGuardia... while speaking to JFK tower, prompting confusion.
In a routine check-in, the pilot radioed the tower: “Tower, 5752 confirm—cleared to land?”
The confused controller shot back: “That’s… uh, who?”
The pilot repeated the call sign—“Brickyard 5752”—twice before the controller realized the aircraft was talking to the wrong tower.
“2-mile final, where?” the tower asked, adding: “This is Kennedy tower, please go to LaGuardia tower.”
The pilot responded sheepishly: “Oh my goodness. Alright.”
Another pilot listening in reportedly muttered, “That’s crazy.”
The plane operated by Republic Airways then switched to LaGuardia tower, roughly 10 miles away.
After switching frequencies, the crew finally reached the correct tower and circled safely for landing, with the pilot saying, “Yeah, 5752, we’re going around.”
Robert Sumwalt, the former chair of the NTSB, told CBS: “If the airplane had landed at LaGuardia without receiving landing clearance, it would have been a very bad mistake. I flew for 31 years, I was an airline pilot for 24 years, I’ve not heard of this particular error occurring.”
Sumwalt said he hopes the blunder serves as a warning, telling the outlet the airline can “learn from it so we can keep it from happening again.”
A spokesperson for Republic Airways told the New York Post the flight was not carrying Delta crew, while the Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the mix-up.
The mishap follows an Air Canada crash last week on the same runway in LaGuardia Airport, which killed two crew members and injured 41 when a landing plane collided with a rescue truck.
The close call comes as a partial government shutdown strains airports nationwide, triggering staffing shortages as unpaid workers stay off the job.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Delta Airlines.
