A United Airlines flight did not heed warnings to hold short of a runway on which a JetBlue flight was arriving at Boston Logan International Airport, authorities say.
The incident occurred on Friday when United Airlines flight 1946 was returning to its gate because of an unspecified maintenance issue,ABC News reports.
Apparently, the Boeing 737 entered a ‘safety area’ near where the JetBlue plane was due to land, which triggered an alarm.
A United Airlines flight and a JetBlue flight nearly crossed paths on Friday after the United flight, returning to its gate due to a maintenance issue, entered a ‘safety area’ near where the JetBlue flight was due to land. The JetBlue plane performed a go around. Pictured is a snowy view of Boston Logan International Airport, where the incident took place, on January 4
Air traffic controllers warned the flight to ‘hold short of runway 27’ at least five times, to which the pilot replied: ‘We’re short.’
The United flight did not end up reaching runway 27.
But the JetBlue flight nonetheless performed a ‘go around,’ which United Airlines later said in a statement was ‘completely unrelated’ to the matter.
GD Pennington, who was on the United Airlines flight, tweeted: ‘Close call with our pilot slamming the brakes and go around of landing aircraft.’
Sarah Sossong, who was on the JetBlue flight, tweeted: ‘Bravo to our @JetBlue pilot on flight 1154 who pulled up quicklydue to “another aircraft on our runway”.
‘After a bumpy go around, he landed @BostonLogan to a round of applause.’
The incident comes amid widespread travel chaos following the bomb cyclone that rocked the Eastern Seaboard this past week. Pictured are stranded passengers at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York
Police were called in to break up ‘disturbances’ caused by furious passengers at the airport; meanwhile, one terminal was evacuated on Sunday due to flooding. Pictured is a view of stranded passengers
Stranded passengers blame card games or check their phones to pass the time as they face delays or cancellations
The incident preceded a Saturday diversion in which a JetBlue flight en route to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from Boston returned to its home base because of an unusual odor smelled by passengers and crew on board.
JetBlue flight 1095 departed at 5pm and returned to Boston Logan at 6.24pm, Fox 25 News reports.
The airline said in a statement: ‘Shortly after departure from Boston the crew on board JetBlue Flight 1095 to Punta Cana reported an unusual odor and customers and crewmembers feeling unwell.
Record-setting cold weather has rocked the Northeast
‘In an abundance of caution, the crew elected to return to Boston and was met by medical personal. The aircraft will be inspected. ‘
The incidents come following widespread travel chaos in the aftermath of the bomb cyclone that brought hurricane-force winds and blizzard conditions to much of the Eastern Seaboard this past week.
Police were called in to break up ‘disturbances’ caused by furious passengers who have been stranded at the John F Kennedy International for nearly two days as a terminal is evacuated due to flooding.
Passengers have complained of being stranded on the tarmac for hours and then facing lengthy delays in baggage claim that made traveling, particularly with babies or the elderly, a misery.
A portion of JFK was evacuated around 1.30pm on Sunday due to a massive water break. The water rose quickly as passengers fled the terminal.
A plane being towed at New York’s JFK struck a Kuwait-bound airliner, prompting the flight to be cancelled.
A China Southern plane was being towed at JFK when it clipped the right tail end of a Kuwait Airways plane before the latter was due to takeoff for an overnight flight around 12am Saturday morning, the Port Authority said on Twitter.
On Friday, an American Airlines flight bound for Cancun from JFK turned around for an emergency landing after someone on board said they saw a wing was on fire.
American Airlines officially said that the plane, a Boeing 738, needed to land due to a ‘possible mechanical issue’.
And an Airbus A380 – the world’s largest passenger jet – was en route to land at the JFK when it was diverted to Stewart Airport in Orange County on Thursday due to winds and whiteout conditions.