The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed to NewsCenter 5 that the independent federal agency is investigating why Learjet decided to pick up from Boston Logan International Airport on Monday night without permission, which nearly caused a catastrophic collision with a JetBlue plane that was attempting to land. According to a preliminary review from the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without authorization while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway shortly before 7 p.m., the FAA said. The FAA said the Learjet lined up and waited on Runway 9 while the JetBlue Embraer 190 touched down on Runway 4-Right, which intersects Runway 9. “The Learjet pilot clearly read the instructions, but began to take off instead,” the FAA said. “The JetBlue pilot took evasive action and proceeded to climb out when the Learjet crossed the intersection.” The JetBlue plane had to move from 87 feet to 3,900 feet to avoid the collision. “On Monday, February 27, JetBlue Flight 206 landed safely in Boston after our pilots were instructed to go round by air traffic controllers,” a JetBlue spokesperson said. “Safety is JetBlue’s number one priority and our crews are trained to respond to situations like this. We will assist the authorities as they investigate this incident, and further inquiries should be directed to them.” According to the flight logs available via Google, JetBlue Flight 206 was on arrival in Boston from Nashville. “We hit the ground and then back up in a matter of seconds. I definitely had a jolt, and then no one knew what was going on,” said Joe Bisbee, who was on board JetBlue Flight 206. The plane was over to the side, said Lilly Sternberg, another passenger on the JetBlue flight. We definitely had to take some sharp turns, so it was really scary. Learjet is reported on by Hop-A-Jet, a private charter company. The FAA will determine the closest distance between the two planes as part of the investigation. “I just hope the FAA can get this to the bottom of it and someone is held accountable for that,” Bisbee said. “I mean, lives were at stake and it’s not right.” Monday’s incident at Logan Airport was the fifth call about Near-miss related to commercial aircraft in recent months across the country, according to ABC News.”I think the one thing we see, the one common thread we see throughout these incidents is human error. Someone made a mistake in the cockpit and control tower,” said Steve Janyard, ABC News contributor and aviation expert. “This is where the FAA will start.”
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed to NewsCenter 5 that the independent federal agency is investigating why Learjet decided to pick up from Boston Logan International Airport on Monday night without permission, which nearly caused a catastrophic collision with a JetBlue plane that was attempting to land.
According to a preliminary review from the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without authorization while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway shortly before 7 p.m., according to the FAA.
The FAA said the air traffic controller ordered the Learjet pilot 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 clearly read the instructions, but started to take off instead,” the FAA said. “The JetBlue pilot made an evasive action and began to climb as the Learjet crossed the intersection.”
The JetBlue plane was forced to move from 87 feet to 3,900 feet to avoid the collision.
“On Monday, February 27, JetBlue Flight 206 landed safely in Boston after our pilots were instructed to go round by air traffic controllers,” a JetBlue spokesperson said. “Safety is JetBlue’s number one priority and our crews are trained to respond to situations like this. We will assist the authorities as they investigate this incident, and further inquiries should be directed to them.”
According to flight logs available via Google, JetBlue Flight 206 was arriving in Boston from Nashville.
“We’re going down and then back up in a matter of seconds,” said Joe Bisbee, who was aboard JetBlue Flight 206. “It definitely had a jolt, and then no one knew what was going on.”
“Once we got far enough, the plane was to the side. We definitely had to take some sharp turns, so it was really scary,” said Lilly Sternberg, another passenger on this JetBlue flight.
The National Transportation Safety Board said there were no reports of damage or injuries in connection with the accident.
Learjet is operated by Hop-A-Jet, a private charter company.
The FAA will determine the closest distance between the two planes as part of the investigation.
“I just hope the FAA can get to the bottom of this and someone will be held accountable for this,” Bisbee said. “I mean, lives were on the line and it’s just not right.”
Monday’s incident at Logan Airport was the fifth close call involving commercial aircraft in recent months nationwide, according to ABC News.
“I think the one thing we see, the one common thread we see throughout these mishaps, is human error. Someone made a mistake in the cockpit and the control tower,” Steve Janyard, an ABC News contributor and expert on aviation, said. “This is where the FAA will start.”
In February, FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said he was putting together a panel of experts to review airline safety.
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