What happened
On the evening of July 8, 2026, air traffic control audio captured a close call between a Hawker 800XP (N58DH) departing Teterboro Airport (TEB) for Merida, Mexico, and United flight UA1981, a Boeing 787-10 approaching Newark Airport (EWR) from Los Angeles. The private jet pilot, whose first language was not English, failed to follow ATC instructions, notably reading back a heading of 200 instead of 260. The controller did not catch this error. The pilot also lacked situational awareness in the busy airspace, eventually flying directly into the path of the United wide-body, which triggered a TCAS RA (Traffic Collision Avoidance System Resolution Advisory) requiring the pilots to take evasive action. The article critiques both the pilot's preparation and the controller's handling of the situation, including verbose instructions and failure to clarify altitude confusion