Passengers on a routine flight into New York had no idea how close they may have come to a serious mistake in the skies.
A Delta Connection flight nearly turned into a nightmare after pilots contacted the wrong air traffic control tower just moments before landing — triggering confusion at one of the busiest airspaces in the country.
According to audio obtained by CBS News, the crew of Flight 5752, traveling from Washington, D.C., attempted to confirm their landing approach to LaGuardia Airport. But instead of reaching LaGuardia’s tower, they accidentally radioed JFK’s control tower.
The mix-up quickly raised alarms.
“2-mile final, where?” the JFK controller asked, clearly confused by the unexpected call.
Seconds later, the controller realized what had happened and responded: “This is Kennedy tower, please go to LaGuardia tower.”
The pilot’s reaction said it all.
“Oh my goodness. Alright,” the crew member replied, sounding stunned by the mistake.
Another pilot monitoring the exchange reportedly reacted in disbelief, saying, “That’s crazy.”
Fortunately, the situation didn’t spiral further. The flight quickly corrected course, switched to the proper tower, and circled before making a safe landing at LaGuardia.
But aviation experts say the error could have had serious consequences.
Robert Sumwalt, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, warned that landing without proper clearance is a major safety risk.
“If the airplane had landed at LaGuardia without receiving landing clearance, it would have been a very bad mistake,” he said. “I flew for 31 years, I was an airline pilot for 24 years, I’ve not heard of this particular error occurring.”
The incident comes at a tense time for LaGuardia, following a deadly crash just days earlier involving an Air Canada flight. In that incident, two crew members were killed and 41 people were injured after a landing aircraft collided with a rescue truck on the runway.