A passenger plane had to abort takeoff at Boston’s Logan International Airport after another plane on the ground flew too close to the runway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Monday’s incident was the latest in a string of dangerous events involving the Logan aircraft. In February, a charter plane took off without a permit, crossing a crossing runway in front of a plane preparing to land. In March, two planes collided near the gate.
This week’s aborted takeoff caused no injuries but frightened passengers and prompted an FAA investigation.
In a statement, the FAA said air traffic controllers noticed the Spirit flight approaching a so-called runway holdline and canceled American Airlines’ clearance to take off “out of due diligence.”
Cosmo Lowell, a passenger on a U.S. flight to Chicago, said the plane had already thundered down the runway and pushed passengers back into their seats when he felt a jolt and a sudden deceleration, causing a commotion on the plane. .
“It definitely made me feel uneasy,” said Lowell, a nurse in Salem, Massachusetts. “Several children started crying.”
Lowell, who travels regularly for work, has never been involved in a failed takeoff, although he has experienced a failed landing before.
“I hope I never go through something like this again,” he said.
The U.S. flight returned to the gate and took off about 90 minutes later, the airline said. The Spirit flight was arriving from Atlanta.
While rare, Monday’s Boston incident remains a cause for concern, said Hassan, chairman and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit that provides safety guidance to the international aviation industry. Shahidi said.
“All these incidents really need to be understood to prevent them from happening again,” he said.
Both airlines issued statements stressing the safety of their passengers and crew is their top priority. Split added that he would provide FAA agents with whatever assistance they needed.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have investigated more than six near-miss incidents at airports across the country this year. The surge prompted the FAA to hold a “safety summit” in March.
Last week, a commercial airliner instructed to abort a landing at San Diego International Airport narrowly avoided a collision with a Southwest Airlines passenger plane that was taking off on the same runway.
Federal authorities are also investigating two other aviation accidents this month.
They are investigating the crash of a Soviet fighter plane during an air show in Michigan. Officials said the pilot and another person on board escaped without serious injury.
Investigators are also looking into what may have caused the pressure drop on an American Airlines flight that flew over Florida on Thursday. The oxygen masks fell off and the plane descended more than 15,000 feet three minutes ago and landed safely in Gainesville, Fla., the FAA said. Pilots usually try to fly lower in oxygen-rich air when they suspect that the cabin pressure has dropped.
Since 2009, there have been no fatalities involving U.S. airlines.