Two planes had "a close call" at Boston Logan International Airport Monday night when one took off without clearance as another landed, federal aviation officials said Tuesday.
A JetBlue plane that was landing "took evasive action" to avoid a Learjet plane that was taking off, according to a Federal Aviation Administration statement obtained by NBC News.
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The incident took place just before 7 p.m., according to the FAA's preliminary statement. Flight data shows JetBlue Flight 206 from Nashville landed about 14 minutes late Monday night.
While that plane, an Embraer 190, was preparing to land on one runway, the pilot of a Learjet 60, an executive-style private plane, confirmed instructions to wait on an intersecting runway "but began a takeoff roll instead," according to the FAA.
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The JetBlue pilot took a sudden climb out of the landing as the smaller plane "crossed the intersection," the FAA said. They didn't share how close the two planes came, which is part of the investigation.
Passenger Dr. Diana Lopez of Brigham and Women's Hospital said the flight had been uneventful but then, just as she thought they were about to touch down — the plane suddenly went back up.
"So I thought it was weird, and I assumed it was a safety issue. I just didn't know the scope of the safety issues involved," Lopez said. "I definitely did not think it would be a near-miss situation."
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Earlier this month, the FAA announced it was creating a team to review a string of airline incidents since December, including two incidents involving a jet crossing another's path, one last month at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and another this month at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas.
"We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted," acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in the memo, NBC News reported at the time. "Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent."
NBC10 Boston's J.C. Monahan and NBC's Emilie Mutert contributed to this report.
