A Delta airliner came within 300 feet of an American Airlines jet at Boston Logan International Airport on Saturday, a spacing narrow enough to trigger an FAA investigation and prompt urgent congressional attention on runway safety.
The Delta flight from Dallas was on approach when it had to execute what pilots call a go-around, pulling up and away from the runway to avoid the American plane, which was departing from an intersecting runway. The Delta aircraft, carrying 129 passengers and six crew members, eventually landed without incident.
Aviation safety expert Todd Curtis, a former Boeing engineer who now co-hosts a podcast on flight safety, calculated the separation distance using Flightradar24, a publicly available flight tracking website. Curtis called the incident significant, and he noted that the involvement of two professional airline crews made the close call especially concerning.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it is investigating the Saturday encounter. Agency officials have long worried about runway incursions, and Curtis said they will likely examine this incident with close scrutiny.
The timing of the Boston near-miss proved consequential. Just days later, on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation is scheduled to hold a hearing on near-misses and runway incursions across the U.S. airport system. Lawmakers plan to explore ways to strengthen safety measures throughout the national airspace.
A Delta spokesperson confirmed that the flight crew worked with air traffic control to perform the go-around. The airline characterized the maneuver as safe and routine, a procedure that pilots or controllers can execute at their discretion, according to FAA guidance.
Author James Rodriguez: "A 300-foot separation between two commercial jets isn't a near-miss you can shrug off, especially when two experienced crews are involved and congressional hearings are already in the works on the same issue."
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