Another close call on a runway at Pearson International Airport has prompted the Transportation Safety Board to open an investigation. On March 7, an Air Canada Boeing 777 crew had to slam on the brakes to avoid slamming into a company Embraer E-190 whose crew had rejected their takeoff on the same runway. Preliminary information suggests a radio call from the 777 accepting takeoff clearance stepped on the call from the E-190 crew that they had aborted their takeoff. There was a combined total of 446 people on the aircraft.
According to the Aviation Herald, the chain of events started with the E-190 being cleared to take off on Runway 06L for Denver with 87 people on board. At 135 knots, the aircraft had a bird strike and since they hadn’t reached V1, the crew hit the brakes. Meanwhile, the 777, headed for Halifax with 359 passengers and crew had been cleared to line up and wait. After receiving takeoff clearance behind the presumably departing E-190, the 777 crew acknowledged and started the roll. The widebody was at 110 knots when the crew saw the regional jet stopped in front of them. Both aircraft left the runway under their own power but the 777 needed 45 minutes to cool its brakes before it could take off again.