- A JetBlue flight landing at a Massachusetts airport had a "close call" with a private jet, the FAA said.
- The JetBlue pilot had to take "evasive action" to avoid the private jet on the runway on Monday.
A JetBlue flight landing at a Massachusetts airport on Monday night had to take "evasive action" to avoid a private jet in yet another terrifying "close call" incident.
The mishap unfolded shortly before 7 p.m. ET when the pilot of a Learjet 60 began to take off "without clearance" from Boston Logan International Airport while JetBlue Flight 206 was preparing to land on an intersecting runway at the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
"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 told Insider in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the federal agency, the pilot of the Learjet — which was being operated by Florida-based charter company Hop-A-Jet — "read back the instructions clearly, but began a takeoff roll instead."
"The pilot of the JetBlue aircraft took evasive action and initiated a climb-out as the Learjet crossed the intersection," said the FAA.
The FAA said that it is investigating the "close call" and will determine the "closest proximity" between the two aircraft as part of the probe.
The close call was first reported by NBC News.
A JetBlue spokesperson told Insider that Flight 206 — which departed from Nashville, Tennessee — "landed safely" at the Boston airport "after our pilots were instructed to perform a go-around by air traffic controllers."
"Safety is JetBlue's first priority and our crews are trained to react to situations like this," the spokesperson said, noting, "We will assist authorities as they investigate this incident."
Reps for Hop-A-Jet did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Boston Logan International Airport did not have any information about the incident.
Two weeks ago, FAA acting administrator Billy Nolen issued a "safety call to action" following recent near-catastrophic "close calls" on runways and other plane incidents.
"We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted," Nolen wrote in a February 14 internal memo. "Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent. Now is the time to stare into the data and ask hard questions."
In the memo, Nolen said that he was establishing a safety review team to "examine the US aerospace system's structure, culture, processes, systems, and integration of safety efforts."
In January, a Delta jet had to abort a takeoff at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when an American Airlines plane passed in front of it on the runway.
"There were vocal reactions, a few screams when the plane first started slowing, then total silence," a Delta passenger told Insider at the time. "I felt a surge of adrenaline knowing this was not normal, and not knowing what to expect."
Earlier this month, two United Airlines aircraft collided at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport.
And in February, a landing FedEx plane in Texas had to pull up at the last minute to avoid landing on a Southwest flight that was headed to Cancun.