Taxi to hold point and await takeoff clearance.
First the com network is swamped with gibberish so we can't get takeoff clearance, and now this!
But this day, there was only one regional jet waiting for takeoff clearance.
The command, he said, would have been, "Cancel takeoff clearance, traffic on the runway."
Obtaining takeoff clearance, he released the brakes, eased back on the wheel and started his plane down the runway.
Tower personnel noticed the mistake and canceled the aircraft's takeoff clearance just as the crew realized their error.
The transmission was on the same frequency that Flight 587 had used, less than three minutes earlier, to acknowledge receiving its takeoff clearance.
The Delta pilot thought the takeoff clearance for the other plane had been intended for his.
The Cessna had been cleared by ground control to back-taxi on runway 31 to the end and wait for takeoff clearance.