FAA Probes Oct. 30 Near-Miss at Boston Logan

On Oct. 30 at about 4:15 p.m., Delta Flight 263 (an A330 diverted from Paris to JFK) executed a go-around at Boston Logan after being cleared to land while Cape Air Flight 548 was cleared for takeoff from an intersecting runway; the Delta pilot radioed “that was close” and live ATC audio captured the Cape Air pilot saying, “What the heck?” Both aircraft ultimately landed safely and no one was injured. The FAA has opened an investigation to determine how close the planes came and whether procedures were followed. Investigators are examining contributing factors including Logan’s multiweek closure of runway 9/27, which produced atypical runway pairings and higher tower workload, and reports that Cape Air delayed its takeoff by 20–30 seconds without being told to depart immediately, which may have reduced the safety margin.