Boston airport near miss: Delta jet and American Airlines plane came within 300 feet
A Delta flight was forced to abort its landing at Boston Logan after coming within 300 feet of an American Airlines plane, prompting an FAA investigation and upcoming Senate hearing.
An aviation expert stated on Sunday that a Delta jet was approximately 300 feet (90 meters) from an American Airlines plane during a close call at Boston's airport, forcing the Delta aircraft to abort a weekend landing attempt. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is investigating the incident between two commercial flights that occurred Saturday at Boston Logan International Airport.
Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer at Boeing who now co-produces a podcast on flight safety, estimated the distance between the two jetliners using Flightradar24, a flight-tracking website. He called it a "significant incident," particularly concerning because it involved two professional airline crews. Curtis noted that federal aviation officials have been worried about such runway incursions for some time and will scrutinize Saturday's close call.
The near-miss and runway incursions at U.S. airports will be the subject of a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. The Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation will seek ways to strengthen safety across the national airspace system.
According to the FAA and flight logs, the Delta flight from Dallas had to execute a go-around, or aborted landing, to avoid the American plane departing from an intersecting runway. The crew of Delta flight 2351 coordinated with air traffic control to perform the go-around, an airline spokesperson said. The flight, carrying 129 passengers and six crew members, landed safely and deplaned normally. The FAA notes that go-arounds are safe, routine procedures performed at the discretion of the pilot or air traffic controllers.
