U.S.

FAA investigating another close call with major airline at US airport

The Federal Aviation Administration has been investigating multiple close calls at U.S. airports involving major airlines.

Boston's Logan International Airport
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SMS

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is investigating another close call at a U.S. airport involving a major airline.

Flight Radar reported that the FAA said a Learjet 60 "took off without clearance" on Monday night at Boston's Logan International Airport as a JetBlue Embraer E190AR was approaching.

The FAA said in a statement, "The incident occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Eastern time. An air traffic controller instructed the pilot of the Learjet to line up and wait on Runway 9 while the JetBlue Embraer 190 landed on Runway 4-Right, which intersects Runway 9." 

"The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a takeoff roll instead. The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection," the statement read.

The FAA said, "The Learjet was operated by Hop-A-Jet, a private charter company.  The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the two aircraft as part of the investigation."

Earlier this week the National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating another close call between two commercial airliners. It was the fourth time a runway incident with commercial airliner was placed under investigation with the safety agency since the start of this year. 

The NTSB said it was investigating the Feb. 22 close call which happened a Southern California's Bob Hope airport in Burbank. A Skywest Embraer 175 was preparing for departure at the airport's runway 33 when a Mesa Airlines CRJ9 maneuvered around the aircraft in what the agency labeled as a "pilot-initiated go-around,” while the aircraft was coming in for landing on the same runway.

The NTSB said no damage or injuries were reported. 

It is unclear how close the two planes came to colliding. The Federal Aviation Administration was already investigating the incident.