NTSB says two planes cleared to use same runway in aborted takeoff probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Air traffic controllers last month cleared an Alaska Airlines jet to take off at Tennessee’s Nashville International Airport on the same runway where a Southwest Airlines plane had been cleared to cross, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Wednesday.

The Sept. 12 incident prompted Alaska Airlines Flight 369, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 airplane with 176 passengers and six crew on board, to abort takeoff to prevent a potential collision. The Alaska pilots quickly applied the brakes to prevent the incident from escalating, blowing its tires.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)