Air-ground communications have captured the unsettled reactions of pilots after an intersecting-runway conflict between a Delta Air Lines Airbus A330-900 and Cape Air Cessna 402 at Boston.
The A330, arriving from Paris Charles de Gaulle on 30 October, had diverted from its original destination of New York JFK.
As the jet conducted its approach to Boston, it was in-trail to a Cape Air Cessna 402 arriving from Cape Cod which had been cleared to land on runway 4R.
According to radio communications archived by LiveATC, the crew of another 402, departing for Bar Harbor, was instructed to line up and wait on the intersecting runway 15R, and its crew informed of traffic on final approach to the crossing runway.
Meteorological data from Boston at the time indicates reduced visibility, low cloud, drizzle and mist.
The A330 crew, still behind the inbound 402, was cleared to land on 4R and told that traffic was holding on the crossing runway.
After the arriving 402 landed, it was given taxi instructions, before the departing 402 was cleared to take off and turn onto a heading of 060°.
Some 30s later, the A330 crew was ordered to execute a go-around, and turn 10° left. The departing 402 had been accelerating for take-off and crossed ahead of the A330.
One of the pilots – probably from the 402 crew – exclaimed: “What the heck?”
The A330 crew asked the tower controller for a heading, receiving instructions to turn left to 300° and maintain 3,000ft.
After confirming the course, one of the A330 pilots added, “That was close,” to which a pilot from the 402 remarked: “Yeah, man, not cool.”
FlightGlobal has sought comment from the National Transportation Safety Board.
No specific details have emerged on the proximity of the two aircraft. The intersection of 4R and 15R lies about 1,200m (4,000ft) from each runway’s threshold. The A330 landed about 15min later.
