Delta pilot says “that was close” after go-around at Boston’s Logan Airport; FAA investigating
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an apparent close incident Thursday at Boston’s Logan Airport involving a Delta Air Lines flight landing and a Cape Air plane taking off.
Delta Flight 263, with 284 passengers and 11 crew members on board, was initially headed from Paris to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport but was forced to divert to Boston due to weather conditions in the New York area, according to Delta officials.
As the Airbus 330-900neo came in to land at Logan around 4:15 p.m. Eastern time, air traffic control asked the flight crew to “circle around” to keep a safe distance from a smaller plane that was taking off, according to an audio recording recorded by LiveATC.net.
“Air traffic control requested Delta Air Lines Flight 263 to perform a go-around at Boston Logan International Airport because Cape Air Flight 548 was cleared to take off from an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement.
A go-around is a procedure in which a pilot aborts a landing approach under the direction of air traffic control and returns to their altitude, according to the FAA.
After completing the go-around, Delta said its flight landed safely and passengers got off the plane normally.
“Delta Flight 263 was ordered by air traffic control to execute a go-around procedure,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement. “The crew followed established procedures and landed safely without incident.”
It was not immediately clear how many people were on board Cape Air Flight 548. The FAA is investigating the incident.
“What is this ?”
It is unclear exactly how close the two planes came. Air traffic control audio recorded by LiveATC.net captured the reaction of the pilots of both flights.
“What is this ?” we hear the Cape Air pilot say.
“That was close,” the Delta pilot responds after being ordered to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet.
“Yeah man, not cool,” the Cape Air pilot then said.
Delta joined other major airlines in calling on Congress to put an end to government shutdown and pay the air traffic controllers, who missed their first full paycheck Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this week that controllers were calling in sick in greater numbers than usual.
