‘Pretty crazy’: AA flight aborts landing in Charlotte due to plane on runway

CHARLOTTE — An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte had to abort landing because a small plane was still on their runway Friday afternoon.

The flight landed safely about 20 minutes later, but passengers on board told Channel 9′s Joe Bruno it was “weird” and “freaky.”

American Airlines Flight 938 ended up circling in the air after a go-around at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. These incidents are rare, but not abnormal.

“American 938, go around, aircraft still on the runway,” said Air Traffic Control to pilots on board around 1:19 p.m. Friday.

Then, the pilot relayed the message to the confused cabin.

“It was pretty crazy, I think more so seeing the reactions of everyone else,” said Maia Hammond, a passenger on the flight.

Channel 9 tracked the flight as one passenger reached out to American Airlines while still in the air. The flight path from FlightAware.com shows the plane nearly land at CLT before returning to altitude.

“About 20 minutes of going around in circles, but I will take that over hitting another plane on the runway,” said Dave Paradice, a passenger on the plane.

Paradice credited the pilot, saying he did a great job with the maneuver and stayed calm when he told everyone what happened.

“I am looking out the window thinking we are about to touch down in Charlotte, and nope, pilot goes up and makes a big announcement very calm, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, the runway was supposed to be vacated, of course, but we have to make a change of plan,’” Paradice told Bruno. “Sounds like a crisis was averted.”

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to Channel 9 that the AA flight had to avoid a plane on the runway. According to the most recent data from the FAA, about 0.4% of arriving flights at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in 2023 resulted in a go-around.

Dr. Mike McCormick is a professor at Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University and was the top supervisor at the New York ATC tower during 911.

“Unfortunately, the aircraft was slow exiting, and the controller did the absolute right thing, and that is to issue what’s known as a go-around instruction to American 938,” McCormick said about Friday’s flight at Charlotte-Douglas.

He said that go-arounds happen more often than one might think around the country.

“It does happen every day across the country, and it is a common method of ensuring runway separation between two aircraft,” McCormick said.

After hearing Friday’s ATC traffic, he said, “Those are well-trained, well-experienced flight crews and controllers working together as a team to make it work.”

AA sent Channel 9 a statement on Friday, saying: “American Airlines flight 938 landed safely and normally at Charlotte after air traffic control directed the flight deck crew to initiate a standard go-around. We thank our crew members for their professionalism and expertise.”

We’ve asked for more details about the plane that was still on the runway and why it was still there.

(VIDEO: ‘Something goes wrong’: American Airlines flight diverted to Eglin Air Force Base due to flap issue)

‘Something goes wrong’: American Airlines flight diverted to Eglin Air Force Base due to flap issue

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