The pilots of an American Airlines plane taxied across the wrong runway last year in New York—into the path of another jetliner that was taking off—after the captain became distracted and confused about takeoff instructions and the co-pilot lost track of their plane’s location, according to documents released Monday.
Disaster was averted because an air traffic controller—using an expletive—shouted at pilots of the other plane, a Delta Air Lines flight, to abort their takeoff.
