An American Airlines pilot was forced to “slam on the brakes” to avoid colliding with a truck at Charlotte’s airport on Wednesday, according to Air Traffic Control audio.
“They just went right in front of us,” the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1197 can be heard telling a ramp controller in the audio, referring to the truck. “We nearly hit them. I had to slam on the brakes.”
The pilot went on to explain that his taxi light was switched on, and the plane was moving, when the vehicle sped past. He described it as a white-and-black pickup truck used for airport operations.
“Someone’s got to be notified right away,” the pilot said. “That’s really bad.”
It appears the American aircraft was leaving the concourse area of the North Carolina airport and headed toward the runway when the encounter took place. According to the tracking site FlightAware, the flight to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., departed on time from Charlotte.
“Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is aware of the reported incident involving an American Airlines aircraft and a CLT ground vehicle while taxiing near the gate on Wednesday morning,” a spokesperson for the airport said in a statement to CBS News, adding: “Safety and security are top priorities at CLT.”
The airport spokesperson said the incident was under investigation “in accordance with safety standards.”
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told CBS News that the agency was “looking into” the incident, which occurred several weeks after a deadly crash between an Air Canada jet and a firefighting truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York City.
In a separate statement, American Airlines praised the crew of Flight 1197 and said the truck was not associated with the airline.
“We’re proud of the professionalism of our crew and the action they took when a ground vehicle not affiliated with American Airlines entered the aircraft’s path on a taxiway,” the airline said.
Unlike the truck involved in the LaGuardia crash, the one in Charlotte appeared to have a transponder, which is a device that allows vehicles to communicate with air traffic controllers using radio signals. The Air Traffic Control audio from Wednesday’s incident concluded with the controller informing Flight 1197 that they could see the operations vehicle.
“I got him now,” the controller said. The truck is visible in a recording of the control screen at the Charlotte airport during that call, which CBS News has reviewed.
The incident comes about a week after the FAA launched an investigation after a Frontier Airlines plane nearly collided with two trucks on a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport.
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