dailynewsnblog
Another concerning near-miss incident has taken place at a major US airport, this time involving an 
American Airlines jet and a truck at 
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). It occurred on Wednesday morning as the American aircraft was taxiing, forcing the pilots to slam the brakes to avoid hitting the airport operations truck.
According to air traffic control recordings via ATC.com, the ground vehicle reportedly “went right in front of” the aircraft as it was moving down a taxiway. The breakdown in safety comes just a month after the deadly Air Canada Express flight 8646 crash at New York LaGuardia Airport, which led to the deaths of both pilots.
American Airlines Jet Nearly Hits CLT Truck
As first reported by Channel 9, the flight crew was forced to act after an airport truck drove into their path, abruptly hitting the brakes to avoid a collision. The aircraft was taxiing when the ground operations vehicle is said to have driven directly in front of it, prompting a rapid response from the pilots. The incident will provoke further scrutiny over airport safety standards, particularly in light of several close calls in recent months.
Wednesday morning’s event had the American pilot exclaiming that the truck’s maneuvering was “really bad,” adding that someone needs to be “notified right away.” Further details on the incident are scarce at this stage, but there are no reported injuries or any damage incurred by the aircraft.
The plane involved in the incident has also not been specified. An American Airlines spokesperson told Simple Flying that the carrier was “proud of the professionalism” of its crew, adding that the vehicle was “not affiliated” with the airline. Per ATC recordings, one of the pilots told the air traffic controller:
“So, that white-black truck, they just went right in front of us, and we nearly hit them. I had to slam on our brakes. We had our taxi light on and we had started moving. Someone’s got to be notified right away. That was really bad.”
Another Airport Safety Lapse
There have been multiple concerning close calls in the US within the past few weeks alone, including a recent incident at 
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) involving a Frontier Airlines jet and two operations trucks. Pilots were again forced to deploy the brakes, preventing a collision that could have caused serious injury to those on board. Only an hour earlier, an Air France Boeing 777-300ER aborted its takeoff from LAX after a Gulfstream private jet entered the runway without authorization.
According to Flightradar24 data, the American jet at CLT did not exceed speeds of 15 mph during the incident, so a collision would not have been as disastrous as the Air Canada Express crash in LaGuardia, which occurred on the runway at speeds of around 100 mph after the regional jet had just landed. Nonetheless, even a low-speed impact can be life-endangering, particularly for those in the truck.
Lawmakers have been pushing to introduce new legislation in an effort to minimize such close calls. One proposal under scrutiny has been to make transponders mandatory in ground vehicles, ensuring that they show up on radar screens. However, understaffing issues have also been at the root of many close calls, so technology alone will not be a sufficient fix.
Frontier Airlines Pilots Slam Brakes On Busy LAX Taxiway: “2 Trucks Just Cut Us Off”
The near-miss has sparked concerns about vehicle transponders, following the deadly Air Canada crash last month.
US Passes ALERT ACT
Just yesterday, the US House passed the ALERT Act of 2026, which will require carriers to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In (ADS-B In) systems by 2031. This legislation was formed in the wake of the American Airlines flight 5342 tragedy, when a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ900 collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, if the American regional jet had been equipped with ADS-B In, it would likely have avoided the midair collision. However, while the ALERT Act applies to aircraft, it does not address the issue of ground vehicles, and has also been criticized for its slow timeline.
