2 Planes Nearly Collide at Logan Airpot in Boston
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the near-collision earlier this month of two passenger jets mistakenly cleared to take off at the same time on intersecting runways at Logan International Airport.
Federal Aviation Administration and airline officials said yesterday that the June 9 incident involved an Aer Lingus Airbus A330 with 328 passengers bound for Shannon International Airport in Ireland and a US Airways Boeing 737 carrying 103 passengers to Philadelphia. At the planes’ speed, they were within seconds of colliding, aviation officials said.
No one was hurt in the incident, which an FAA spokesman yesterday called an ”operational error” by air traffic controllers. According to a federal aviation source who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Aer Lingus flight was cleared to take off from Runway 15R and head southeast over Boston Harbor. At about the same time, the US Airways jet was cleared to take off eastbound on Runway 9.
At 7:34 p.m., the Aer Lingus flight had just lifted off and was passing over Runway 9 as the US Airways jet accelerated on Runway 9, closing to within 200 to 1,000 feet of the other aircraft, officials said. The federal aviation source said the Aer Lingus pilot has filed a near-collision report, which is required when pilots believe their plane came within 500 feet of another.
The closest distance between the two aircraft is in dispute and will be determined by the investigation. One air traffic controller, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the encounter ”exceptionally close.”
Such incidents have become less frequent since collision avoidance systems, which are required on planes with 10 or more seats, were installed in the 1990s. Around the same time, more sophisticated air traffic control systems were installed at airports to replace aging systems blamed for near-collisions and other mishaps. It was unclear yesterday whether the systems alerted pilots or controllers in the Logan incident.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters confirmed that an investigation into the incident was underway, and said the NTSB is scheduled to release a preliminary report today. Several calls to the safety board yesterday were not returned.
Federal officials and officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport, did not disclose the near-collision until yesterday. It was not clear whether passengers aboard the planes were told of the incident.
Aer Lingus spokesman Jack Foley said the plane’s flight crew contacted Logan’s control tower just after the incident ”to report the close proximity of a second aircraft.” The crew also called the airline’s safety unit in Ireland, which reported it to Irish aviation authorities and to the NTSB, Foley said.
”We continue to cooperate fully with both agencies as they carry out their investigations,” Foley said. ”The aircraft did not take any evasive maneuvers and continued on to Shannon and Dublin under a normal flight plan.”
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