In a recent incident at Portland International Jetport, airport employees had to clear out of the way as a Southwest Airlines jet took off from a closed runway on the morning of June 25, as per air traffic control recordings.
Controllers and pilots repeatedly warned the crew of Southwest 4805 about the closed runway, according to recordings from LiveATC.net. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are currently investigating the incident, with Southwest Airlines cooperating with both regulators.
The runway at Portland International Jetport has been closed overnight for a taxiway construction project for the past few months, reopening each morning at 5:45 a.m. The tower is also closed overnight, as mentioned in the recordings.
Despite warnings over the radio about an airport vehicle on the closed runway, the Southwest pilots did not hear them as they were communicating on a different frequency with air traffic controllers near Boston.
The Boston controller later informed Southwest that they departed three minutes before the runway reopened, leading to confusion between the pilots and controllers.
The FAA confirmed that the runway was indeed closed at the time of the incident, with the airport vehicle exiting the runway before the plane began its takeoff roll.
It is uncertain how close the plane came to colliding with the runway crew. The tower controller acknowledged the workers on the runway over the radio, noting that they had to exit because of the takeoff.
Southwest Airlines stated that the flight proceeded safely to its destination, with further inquiries directed to the NTSB. The NTSB announced that they are investigating the incident and will release a preliminary report next month.
This incident adds to a series of safety concerns involving Southwest Airlines. Investigators are also looking into recent incidents where Southwest flights nearly crashed near Oklahoma City and Hawaii, as well as an unusual in-flight swaying called a Dutch roll.
