Close call between 2 aircraft at Boston Logan under federal investigations
By Pete Muntean, CNN
Air traffic controllers stopped a departing private jet from running into a JetBlue flight as it was coming in to land Monday night in Boston, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA says it is investigating the incident. This is the fifth close call involving a commercial airliner on a runway this year.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board announced on Twitter that it was also investigating the incident.
The two planes involved in Monday night’s apparent close call at Boston Logan International Airport came within 565 feet (172 meters) of colliding, according to Flightradar24’s preliminary review of its data.
Asked for comment on the Flightradar24 analysis, the agency told CNN, “The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the two aircraft as part of the investigation.”
‘JetBlue 206, go around’
“According to a preliminary review, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement on Tuesday.
“JetBlue 206, go around,” said the controller in Boston Logan’s tower, according to recordings archived by LiveATC.net.
The FAA says its air traffic controller told the crew of the Learjet to “line up and wait” on Runway 9 as the JetBlue Embraer 190 approached the intersecting Runway 4 Right.
“The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a takeoff roll instead,” the FAA said in a statement. “The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection.”
Other recent incursions
The NTSB is also investigating four other runway incursions involving commercial airliners at major US airports this year.
On Friday, the agency announced it was investigating a possible “runway incursion” in Burbank, California, involving Mesa and SkyWest regional airliners.
Three other incidents have occurred at Honolulu, Austin and New York’s JFK airport this year.
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