A Delta Airlines and American Airlines plane are seen ahead of the July 4th holiday, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on July 1, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Imag
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Just a few hundred feet was all that separated a departing American Airlines jet and an inbound Delta Air Lines flight last weekend during a close call on a runway at Boston’s Logan Airport, an aviation expert estimated.
Big picture view:
The Delta crew aborted their landing and conducted a go-around before landing safely and deplaning normally, an airline spokesperson said. According to the spokesperson, there were 129 passengers and six crew members on board Saturday’s flight, which was arriving from Dallas.
What they’re saying:
“This is a significant incident,” said Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer at Boeing. Using data from the flight tracking website Flightradar24, Curtis determined that the planes came as close as 300 feet, or the length of a single football field, of each other during the near-miss. He found the incident especially concerning because it involved two professional airline crews.
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What’s next:
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the agency is investigating the runway incursion. The FAA described go-arounds as safe and routine actions that can happen at the discretion of the pilot or air traffic controllers. Curtis expects federal aviation officials will closely scrutinize the incident, saying that they have been worried about such situations for a while.
Dig deeper:
A hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday is scheduled to examine near-misses and runway incursions at U.S. airports. The Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation is looking for ways to improve safety in American airspace.
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