MISSOURI- An Air Canada Express (QK) regional jet was ordered to stop seconds after receiving takeoff clearance at St. Louis, as a Southwest Airlines (WN) Boeing 737 approached the same runway to land. The incident occurred at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) on Tuesday morning, when Jazz Aviation flight AC8886 was preparing to depart for Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
The Bombardier CRJ900, operating under the callsign Jazz 886, was cleared to depart Runway 12R before air traffic control (ATC) urgently canceled the clearance. The aircraft stopped before reaching the runway hold-short line, while Southwest flight WN3082, arriving from Minneapolis, landed safely. No injuries were reported.
ATC Cancels Takeoff Clearance
Audio published by aviation channel VASAviation captured the exchange between the control tower and the two flight crews.
The controller first cleared Southwest flight WN3082 to land on Runway 12R, and the crew acknowledged the instruction.
The tower then issued takeoff clearance to Jazz 886 for the same runway. Almost immediately, the controller began shouting repeated instructions for the Air Canada Express jet to stop, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.
The Jazz crew acknowledged the instruction and confirmed that the aircraft was holding position. The Southwest crew subsequently asked the controller to confirm its landing clearance, which the tower reaffirmed before the Boeing 737-800 touched down several seconds later.
After the landing, the Jazz crew was informed that the arriving aircraft had been on an eight-mile final approach and had been instructed to line up and wait.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the regional jet stopped before the hold-short line and that the required separation was maintained.
Runway Collision Risk
The incident could have developed into a serious runway conflict if the CRJ900 had continued toward or entered the runway while the Southwest aircraft was approaching to land.
However, the FAA’s statement indicates that the regional jet stopped before reaching the protected runway area.
The hold-short line marks the boundary an aircraft must not cross without authorization when another movement or safety restriction requires the runway to remain clear. The FAA defines a runway incursion as the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person in the protected area of a runway.
Because Jazz 886 reportedly stopped before crossing the hold-short line, the event may not qualify as a runway incursion under that definition.
The supplied information does not establish whether the FAA has formally classified the occurrence or assigned it a severity category.
Runway incursions are categorized according to their potential consequences. Category A incidents involve a serious conflict in which a collision is narrowly avoided, while Category B events involve a significant reduction in separation and substantial collision potential.
Categories C and D describe less serious events with more time to respond or no immediate safety consequences.
The FAA Safety Team reported in an August notice that Category A and B runway incursions increased by 44% in 2025. Overall, however, the number of reported incursions fell by around 1%, to just over 1,600.
Previous Air Canada Incident
The St. Louis close call comes months after another Jazz-operated Air Canada Express CRJ900 was involved in a fatal runway collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
On March 22, flight AC8646, arriving from Montréal with 76 people aboard, struck a Port Authority fire truck on Runway 4 shortly after landing.
Both pilots were killed in that collision. Investigators reported that the fire truck had been cleared to cross the runway approximately 12 seconds before the aircraft touched down.
The driver heard an instruction to stop but did not realize it was directed at the truck because the controller identified the vehicle only in a subsequent call.
The two events involved different circumstances, and the available information does not establish a connection between them.
In St. Louis, the immediate outcome was that the Air Canada Express jet stopped short of the runway and the Southwest aircraft landed without reported injuries.
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