‘I started praying’: Abrupt move above CLT airport startles American Airlines passengers
Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte had a scary landing experience Friday afternoon, according to a journalist and other passengers aboard the plane.
The plane had to do an emergency pull-up from landing because another plane was on the runway, tweeted Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a New York Times reporter and CNN on-air contributor. Instead of going down, the plane shot up without an explanation, but clearly something was wrong, Garcia-Navarro told The Charlotte Observer.
“We sort of took a very steep ascent,” she said. “I started praying because I was scared.”
A few minutes later, the pilot came on and said there was a plane on the runway where the flight was supposed to land, Garcia-Navarro added.
“We ended up circling a couple of times,” she said. “It was pretty bumpy.”
“American 938, go around, aircraft still on the runway,” Air Traffic Control told pilots on board around 1:19 p.m. Friday, Observer news partner WSOC reported.
A previous arrival was still on the runaway, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer. The pilots on the flight from California were told to perform a go-around, a safe routine maneuver. It discontinues the landing approach and returns the aircraft to an altitude and configuration to safely make another approach.
“About 20 minutes of going around in circles, but I will take that over hitting another plane on the runway,” Dave Paradice, a passenger on the plane, told WSOC.
Flight AA938 left LAX at 5:58 a.m. PST and came to Charlotte Douglas International Airport around 1:40 p.m., but the plane made several loops north of CLT before arriving at the gate at 1:47 p.m., according to a tracker on FlightAware, a website providing real-time information.
“I’ve flown thousands of times and that’s never happened,” Garcia-Navarro shared on X.
American Airlines responded to her post about the incident. “As travelers ourselves, we know this can be a scary thing,” American Airlines tweeted. “Please be assured, our team is top-notch, and always has your safety at the top of their priority list.”
During the conversation, Garcia-Navarro said the plane landed around 1:40 p.m.
The aircraft touched down safely and normally at CLT, according to American, which said the incident was not considered an emergency maneuver.
“We thank our crew members for their professionalism and expertise,” the airline stated.
Air safety concerns continue
In the wake of a Washington, DC, crash that killed 76 people in January, airline safety has been on the forefront of people’s minds this year.
American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River. All 60 passengers and Charlotte-based flight crew died on the commercial plane. The crash also took the lives of three people inside the military chopper.
In mid-March, two people were killed in a private plane crash near the Pitt-Greenville Airport in North Carolina, several minutes after leaving for Vero Beach, Florida.
And last month, a Delta flight coming from the Minneapolis-St. Paul region turned upside down on a runway in Toronto. All 76 passengers and four crew members survived the incident. But 21 people were treated for injuries.
More on CLT
Charlotte Douglas is the second largest hub for American American. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company accounts for about 90% of all flights out of the airport.
CLT is the seventh busiest airport in the world for arrivals and departures, according to Airports Council International. In 2024, over 58.8 million passengers traveled through CLT. Of that total, 13% (18 million) used the terminal lobby for arrivals and departures. Charlotte Douglas broke the 2023 record of 53.4 million last year.
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 5:37 PM.
