The Federal Aviation Administration says it is investigating a “close call” between a Learjet and a JetBlue flight that unfolded Monday evening at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
In a statement to FOX Business, the FAA, citing a preliminary review, said “the pilot of a Learjet 60 took off without clearance while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway.”
“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 FAA said. “The Learjet pilot read back the instructions clearly but began a takeoff roll instead.”
The statement added that the “pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection.”
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Flight data shows the JetBlue plane — which was coming from Nashville, Tennessee — eventually arrived at 7:13 p.m. local time.
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The FAA says the incident happened shortly before 7 p.m.
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JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday from FOX Business.
“The FAA will determine the closest proximity between the two aircraft as part of the investigation,” the agency also said in their statement.