"Stop, Stop, Stop": ATC Scrambles To Halt Air Canada Jet As Southwest 737 Lands In St. Louis

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An Air Canada Express regional jet was ordered to stop just seconds after receiving takeoff clearance at Lambert St Louis International Airport (STL), as a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was approaching the same runway to land. The flight — AC8886 operated by Jazz Aviation and bound for Toronto — had been cleared to depart Runway 12R on Tuesday morning when the tower frantically canceled takeoff clearance as the Southwest jet was on final.

Fortunately, the Air Canada jet stopped before reaching the hold short line, meaning it never entered the runway. Southwest flight 3082 from Minneapolis landed safely, and no injuries were reported.

Air Canada Express Takeoff Clearance Canceled Within Seconds

Air traffic control (ATC) audio from VASAviation shows that the tower first cleared Southwest flight 3082 to land on Runway 12R, which the crew acknowledged. The controller then cleared the Air Canada Express flight — a Bombardier CRJ900 operating under the callsign Jazz 886 — for takeoff from the same runway. However, the controller began canceling that clearance almost immediately, repeatedly shouting "Stop." The controller said,

"Jazz 8, stop, stop, stop, Jazz, stop. Jazz stop, Jazz stop, stop Jazz!"

The Air Canada pilots acknowledged the instruction and confirmed "holding position" before the Southwest crew asked the tower to confirm that they were still cleared to land. The controller confirmed the clearance, and the Boeing 737-800 touched down on Runway 12R several seconds later.

After the Southwest jet landed, the Jazz crew was told that arriving traffic was on an eight-mile final approach and it had been instructed to line up and wait. In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Jazz 886 stopped before the hold short line, adding that "the required separation was maintained."

Potentially Fatal Collision Averted

Had the Jazz CRJ900 (registration C-FTJZ) continued past the hold short line, the Southwest 737 could have landed on the runway while it was occupied by the departing regional jet. This could have led to a potentially catastrophic collision. The exact number of passengers and crew onboard both aircraft at the time has not been disclosed, but relatively full load factors on both flights would put this figure at over 250 people.

The incident comes seven months after a Jazz-operated Air Canada Express flight was involved in a fatal runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA). On March 22, flight AC8646 — a CRJ-900 arriving from Montréal with 76 souls onboard — struck a Port Authority fire truck on Runway 4 moments after landing, killing both pilots.

On that occasion, the truck had been cleared to cross the runway about 12 seconds before the jet touched down. Investigators said the driver heard the controller's instruction to stop, but did not know it was directed at the truck, as the tower only identified the vehicle in its second call.

FAA Yet To Classify St. Louis Close Call

The FAA defines a runway incursion as the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a runway. The hold short line is the point where an aircraft must stop to remain clear of that area. As Jazz 886 is said to have stopped before reaching the line, the incident may not be recorded as a runway incursion.

There are different categories of severity when it comes to runway incursions. Category A covers incidents in which a collision is narrowly avoided, while Category B applies when separation is reduced and there is significant potential for a collision requiring a time-critical response. Meanwhile, Categories C and D cover less serious events, where there is more time to avoid a collision or no immediate safety consequence.

According to recent FAA data, the two most serious runway incursion categories have been increasing nationally. An FAA Safety Team notice published in August stated that Category A and B events rose by 44% in 2025, although the total number of incursions fell by around 1% to just over 1,600.