US cites charter jet pilots in Boston near-crash investigation

Stunning photos shot from the cockpit of a JetBlue Airways Corp. plane show how close the aircraft came to colliding on a Boston runway early this year in one of a surging number of airline close calls. The JetBlue aircraft was only 30 feet off the ground, preparing to touch down, when a Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Jet Charter Inc. plane crossed in front of it at high speed, according to a US National Transportation Safety Board report issued Thursday. The agency concluded the crew on the charter jet had caused the runway incident on Feb. 27, one of several that triggered safety warnings earlier this year. An air-traffic controller had told the charter jet’s pilots to wait on the runway, but the crew misunderstood and took off, the board said. The investigators released vivid images from the JetBlue cockpit showing the other plane clearly visible as the airliner neared the ground. The JetBlue pilots aborted their landing and climbed after seeing the other plane. The still image was taken from a video recording made by a person sitting behind the pilots in the JetBlue plane, an Embraer SA EJR 190-100. The case was one of an unexplained surge in high-risk runway incidents that occurred early this year, prompting the creation of a special safety review team by the Federal Aviation Administration to examine the issue. There have been nine serious situations so far this year involving airlines that were rated as severe by the FAA or that prompted NTSB investigations. That’s about twice the annual average since 2018. The FAA convened a symposium in March to get feedback on what’s causing the upsurge and required additional training for its controllers. <br/>