Saved by seconds: How an EgyptAir flight was just 37 feet from JFK's worst runway disaster

An EgyptAir flight that wandered into the path of a Lufthansa airliner on the runway at JFK International airport was just 37 feet from a catastrophy that could have claimed many hundreds of lives.

The incident in June was the most dangerous near-miss of the year at the New York City airport, according to a new report from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The German Lufthansa flight carried 286 passengers bound for Munich. The Egyptian jetliner carried 346 passengers headed to Cairo. If they had collided, it could have been the worst commercial air disaster in history.

In a year-end report, the FAA faults EgyptAir pilots who taxied 37 feet onto the runway that was being used by the Lufthansa aircraft for takeoff, the New York Post reported.

Air traffic controllers had instructed the Egyptian plane to turn left to another runway.

Instead, they continued straight and headed into the path of a the Lufthansa flight that was barreling down the runway on takeoff.

'Cancel takeoff! Cancel takeoff plans!' an aircraft controller yelled at the German pilots.

The Lufthansa aircraft slammed on its brakes so hard that they over-heated, according to the Post.

But in the end, the planes missed each other by seconds, FAA officials believe.

The Germans were flying an Airbus A340 and the Egyptian flight was a Boeing 777.

With 632 passengers and crew on the line, the death toll from such a disaster could have been even bigger than the Tenerife airport disaster on the Spanish Canary Islands in 1977.

That tragedy also involved one aircraft taxiing into the path of another that was taking off. It claimed 586 lives and is the worst commercial air mishap in history.

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