A near miss was recently averted at John F. Kennedy International Airport. A SWISS A330-300 was cleared for takeoff, but the pilots aborted it after seeing three other aircraft on the runway. Flight LX17 (an A330-300 registered HD-JHB) was cleared for take off on runway 04L. The aircraft rejected the take off at around 40 knots. Three aircraft had passed the hold short lines and entered the runway to cross. After informing ATC of the situation, LX17 was given instructions to vacate the runway and taxi to the holding point. Fifteen minutes later, the A330 took off from the airport bound for Zurich. 

The controller had given the three aircraft clearance to cross the runway roughly 40 second before LX17 was cleared for takeoff. No ATC instructions were given to cancel the crossing clearance or abort take off. The three aircraft crossing the runway were identified as a Delta 767-400, a Delta A220-300, and an American 737 MAX 8.