Logan Airport

‘Concerning': Passenger speaks out after plane has to abort takeoff at Logan

It's unclear exactly how close the planes got to each other

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After a plane had to quickly abort its takeoff on Monday at Boston Logan Airport, an investigation is underway by the Federal Aviation Administration as a passenger speaks out about the scary moments on the runway.

The FAA said in a statement that on Monday afternoon, an American Airlines flight headed to Chicago was preparing to take off, when a Spirit Airlines flight came too close to the runway holding line.

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The FAA said an air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for an American Airlines flight on Monday afternoon "out of an abundance of caution" after they saw Spirit Airlines Flight 1444 approaching too close.

An air traffic controller saw this, and instructed the American Airlines pilot to abort the takeoff.

"I felt like we were about to take off, they instantly hit the emergency brakes," passenger Cosmo Rowell said. "You got a knee jerk jolt forward.”

The plane took off for Chicago later in the day.

"The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority," the airline said in a statement to NBC10 Boston. "We apologize for the delay in our customer’s travel plans."

The FAA said an air traffic controller canceled the takeoff clearance for an American Airlines flight "out of an abundance of caution" after they saw Spirit Airlines Flight 1444 approaching too close.

This hasn't been the first incident on a Logan Airport runway this year.

Back in February, investigators said that the pilot of a charter plane took off without permission, leading to a near-miss with a JetBlue plane that was preparing to land.

It's unclear how long the FAA investigation into this latest incident could take.

"It could've been more serious than it was. I'm grateful it wasn't that serious and everyone is OK. But the fact that this is not the first time this has happened and the fact that it seems to happen kind of often compared to other airports, that is concerning to me as a frequent flyer," Rowell said.

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