The National Transportation Safety Board said a nearly fatal incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York last year came down to human error.

On Jan. 15, 2023, an American Airlines Boeing 777 crossed a runway on which a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 had initiated its takeoff roll.

In a report released Tuesday, the NTSB said “interruptions and multitasking that were happening on the flight deck during critical moments of ground navigation” caused the American Airlines crew to be distracted and inadvertently use the wrong taxiway, and cross an active runway.

According to the NTSB, a ground warning system alerted air traffic controllers at JFK that the American Airlines plane had crossed onto an active runway, and the controllers canceled the Delta plane’s takeoff clearance. The warning system has been in use at JFK since 2009, and the NTSB has recommended installing it at airports around the country since 1991. Just 35 major U.S. airports currently have the system.

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Still, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said a ground-based warning system may not be enough to prevent a similar incident in the future. The board recommends a requirement that planes be outfitted with systems that will directly warn pilots of ground navigation errors that could lead to collisions.

“The whole reason U.S. aviation has such an exemplary safety record is because we’ve built in extra layers of protection, which is why we need lifesaving technology at more of the nation’s airports,” Homendy said in a statement.  “Our investigation also makes clear why we’ve long supported systems that warn flight crews of risks directly: because every second matters. Thankfully, the controllers acted quickly in this case, but safety shouldn’t be all on their shoulders. Instead, we must back up every single component of the system; direct crew alerts do just that.”

Runway incursions and other near-collisions at airports have been in the spotlight recently, and experts have warned that it could be a sign that the nation’s aviation safety net is wearing thin.

The NTSB will conduct a hearing about another near-miss in 2023, when a FedEx Boeing 767 nearly landed on the same runway from which a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 was taking off at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NTSB recommends better warning systems in JFK near-miss report