NTSB: JetBlue tail hit runway to avoid crash

Federal investigators say the tail of a JetBlue plane struck a Colorado runway during takeoff last year when the captain quickly pointed the jet’s nose upward to get airborne and avoid a head-on crash with a plane preparing to land on the same runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the crew of the other plane, a Beechcraft King Air 350, was startled when the JetBlue plane announced that it was beginning to taxi on to the runway. The King Air was still more than 5 miles from the airport but closing fast.

“I hope you don’t hit us,” the King Air crew said to the JetBlue pilots.

The JetBlue captain and co-pilot said they never saw the other plane, but they veered to the right after takeoff to avoid traffic that was detected by the collision-avoidance system on their jet.

The NTSB said flight data indicates that the planes were 2.6 miles apart when the JetBlue Airbus A320 began its climbing right turn away from the airport.

The NTSB said “nonstandard” radio communication by the crew of the King Air contributed to the Jan. 22, 2022, incident at Yampa Valley Regional Airport, 25 miles west of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The NTSB’s final report comes as investigators look into several other recent close calls between planes.

It also highlights conflicts that can arise when big airline jets and private planes mix at smaller airports where there are no air traffic controllers. Airline pilots are often less familiar with those airports because flights may be only seasonal.

The JetBlue crew — a 45-year-old captain with more than 11,000 hours of flying experience and a first officer, 40 — cut short the planned flight to Florida and landed at Denver International Airport. No one was injured, but the NTSB said damage to the plane was “substantial.”

New York-based JetBlue did not comment.

The NTSB said that after the incident, JetBlue began developing training for pilots on flying at non-towered airports.