(Bloomberg) -- An aborted takeoff last year on a US Airwaysplane in Philadelphia, which smashed down so hard it broke thelanding gear, was triggered by the crew’s failure to enter theproper runway into a flight computer, among other errors, accordingto a preliminary investigation.

“What did you do?” the captain told the copilot as the AirbusGroup SE A320 carrying 154 people raced down the runway and itscomputers failed to display the lift-off speed. “You didn’t load.We lost everything.” His words were captured by the plane’s cockpitvoice recorder.

A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board probe found thatsimilar mistakes had prompted other pilots to break off takeoffs inthe past at the carrier, now part of American Airlines Group Inc.,and at least two written warnings had been issued to flight crewsbefore the accident.

The NTSB probe comes as the safety board and the U.S. FederalAviation Administration, which regulates airlines, haveincreasingly expressed concern that accidents have occurred becausepilots didn’t understand what highly automated aircraft computerswere doing.

Warnings blared

None of the people aboard the flight to Fort Lauderdale,Florida, were hurt, according to NTSB.

After discovering they had entered the wrong runway on March 13,2014, the crew in Philadelphia decided to take off anyway aswarnings blared in the cockpit, according to NTSB. Moments later,the captain abruptly reversed course and tried to stop the plane ata higher speed than was allowed after it had already lifted off,according to records released by the safety board.

The NTSB hasn’t concluded the accident’s cause. The newinformation on the crash is contained in preliminary reportssummarizing factual information gathered in the investigation.

In June 2013, the airline had notified its pilots about “anumber” of similar aborted takeoffs. A review of flight recordsafter the 2014 accident showed there may have been several othersuch incidents that year, though the airline couldn’t be sure,according to NTSB.

“American continues to support the NTSB investigation regardingthis event,” company spokesman Matt Miller said. “We cannot commenton possible findings or probable cause while the investigation isongoing.”

The Allied Pilots Association, a union representing thecarrier’s pilots, declined to comment because it’s participating inthe investigation, spokesman Captain Dennis Tajer said.

200 MPH

The twin-engine jet briefly lifted off and reached a speed ofmore than 200 miles (322 kilometers) an hour before the captain putit down and tried to stop, according to NTSB data.

The crew had earlier calculated they shouldn’t attempt to stopon the runway at a speed higher than 181 miles an hour, a routinemeasure designed to prevent going off the runway or damaging theplane, according to NTSB. Pilots are taught it’s best to lift offat higher speeds, even in emergencies.

The plane’s tail struck the runway first and then its noseslammed down so hard the front landing gear collapsed. Thepassengers were evacuated after the plane came to rest and thepilots smelled smoke.

The captain told investigators he aborted the takeoff because he"felt like the airplane was totally unsafe to fly," the NTSB saidin one of its reports.

Data entry

The confusion during takeoff was triggered initially by thefailure of the copilot to enter the proper runway into the plane’scomputers, according to NTSB. Both pilots were supposed to checkthe information but failed to notice the mistake. The pilotsdiscovered it minutes before entering the runway, but failed toreenter critical information on temperature and expected takeoffspeeds.

The reports didn’t address how often similar mistakes are madeat other airlines.

The captain told investigators he had never heard those type ofwarnings before on takeoff.

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As part of the investigation, the NTSB also found that the crewhadn’t given one of their engines sufficient time to warm up. Inaddition, the captain, 61, who had had a cardiac procedure in whichhe was sedated two days before the accident, didn’t announce he wasstopping the takeoff as required by the airline’s flight manuals,according to the NTSB.

Since the accident, American has issued bulletins to air crewson how to handle the failure to enter proper information intoflight computers.

--With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein.

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