SHOCKING! Two planes come close enough to collide at JFK Airport in New York, FAA orders probe

Investigators are investigating a close call that occurred Friday night at a New York airport between two planes, one of which was crossing a runway and the other of which was getting ready to take off. The Boeing 737, run by Delta Airlines, and the Boeing 777, operated by American Airlines, were the two aircraft that almost collided on Friday at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which could have resulted in a major catastrophe.

"(Expletive)! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!" an air controller said in an audio recording of Air Traffic Control communications when he noticed the other plane, operated by American Airlines, crossing in front. The recording was made by LiveATC, a website that monitors and posts flight communications.

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Delta Air Lines' departing Boeing 737 plane then came to a "safe stop" on the John F Kennedy International Airport runway as the other crossed in front, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

U.S FAA opens an investigation following a near-collision between an American Airlines 777 and a Delta Air Lines 737 at New York's JFK Airport on Friday. pic.twitter.com/aT3mg3dPfL

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"I think the controller made a good call to reject the takeoff," said John Cox, a retired pilot, and professor of aviation safety at the University of Southern California. He said the rejected takeoff safety maneuver, which is when pilots stop the aircraft and discontinue the takeoff, is one they are "very, very familiar with."

"Pilots practice rejected takeoff almost every time they get to the simulator," he said. According to the FAA statement, the Delta plane stopped about 1,000 feet (about 0.3 kilometers) from where the American Airlines plane had crossed from an adjacent taxiway. The agency said Saturday that it will investigate the incident, which happened around 8.45 pm.

The National Transportation Safety Board also said it was looking into the close call. "They'll go back and listen to every transmission between the American jet and air traffic control to see who misunderstood what," Cox said.

With PTI inputs