Delta pilot says “that was close” after go-around at Boston’s Logan Airport; FAA investigating

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an apparent close call at Boston’s Logan Airport Thursday involving a Delta Air Lines flight that was landing and a Cape Air plane that was taking off.

Delta Flight 263, with 284 passengers and 11 crew members on board, was originally headed from Paris to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, but was forced to divert to Boston because of weather conditions in the New York area, according to Delta officials. 

As the Airbus 330-900neo came in for a landing at Logan at about 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, air traffic control told the flight crew to “go around” to keep a safe distance from a smaller plane that was taking off, according to audio recorded by LiveATC.net.

“Air traffic control instructed Delta Air Lines Flight 263 to perform a go-around at Boston Logan International Airport because Cape Air Flight 548 was cleared to takeoff from an intersecting runway,” the FAA said in a statement.

A go-around is a procedure in which a pilot discontinues a landing approach at the direction of air traffic control and returns to altitude, according to the FAA. 

After executing the go-around, Delta said its flight landed safely and passengers deboarded the plane normally.

“Delta Flight 263 was instructed by air traffic control to execute a go-around procedure,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement. “The crew followed established procedures and landed safely without incident.”

It was not immediately known how many people were aboard Cape Air Flight 548. The FAA is investigating the incident. 

“What the heck?”

It’s not clear exactly how close the two planes got to each other. Air traffic control audio recorded by LiveATC.net captured the reaction from pilots on both flights.

“What the heck?” the Cape Air pilot is heard saying.

“That was close,” the Delta pilot responds after being told to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet.

“Yeah man, not cool,” the Cape Air pilot then says.

Delta has joined other major airlines in calling on Congress to end the government shutdown and pay air traffic controllers, who missed their first full paycheck on Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said this week that controllers are calling in sick in larger numbers than usual.