An American Airlines and Delta Air Lines jet had an uncomfortably close call in Boston, and this is the perfect example of how messed up our air traffic control system is, beyond just staffing issues. Fortunately the quick thinking of a Delta pilot saved the day, or else this could’ve had a very different ending.
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Delta & American planes use intersecting runways at same time
JonNYC flagged an incredibly close call that happened at Boston Logan Airport (BOS), at around 11:34AM local time on Saturday, June 20, 2026. Specifically, it involves:
- American flight AA3161, scheduled to depart to Charlotte (CLT), which was operated by a Boeing 737-800
- Delta flight DL2351, scheduled to arrive from Dallas (DFW), which was operated by an Airbus A319
What happened here is pretty simple:
- AA3161 was cleared to line up and wait on runway 27, and was given a warning that traffic was landing on runway 33L, as the two runways intersect
- Moments later, DL2351 was cleared to land on runway 33L, and was given a warning about how traffic was holding on runway 27
Okay, up until now, you’d think everything is fine. One plane was lining up on one runway, and one plane was landing on an intersecting runway, and both planes were warned about one another. However, this is where things went downhill:
- At this point AA3161 was cleared for takeoff, even though the claim to the Delta pilot was that another plane would be holding on an intersecting runway
- This wouldn’t have been an issue had the American plane immediately started its takeoff roll, but the plane waited around 45 seconds to begin its takeoff roll
- At that point, the American plane was accelerating at the same time that the Delta plane was going to land on the intersecting runway
- Fortunately the Delta pilot saw what was going on and called a go around, because if he hadn’t, it looked like those planes would’ve been on an exact collision course, meaning the Delta plane ended up overflying the American plane by a matter of a few hundred feet
- The air traffic controller’s response was to ask the American pilots what they were doing, and the American pilot responded that they were cleared for takeoff
Air traffic control clearance in the US makes little sense
Air traffic control staffing is always a topic of discussion when it comes to the number of near misses we see, but that’s not even what can directly be blamed here.
Yes, this air traffic controller was insanely overworked. There was almost no pause on frequency, and I can’t even imagine the stress and workload he has, where each instruction and read back could have life or death implications (especially with Boston’s complicated runway layout, the need to cross runways, etc.).
But anyway, as I see it, here’s the root cause of what happened — the United States has the dumbest system for giving provisional landing clearance. In many other countries, an aircraft is cleared to land when it’s, you know, actually cleared to land. That means there’s no other plane on the runway, no plane crossing the path on the runway, etc.
In the United States, landing clearance doesn’t actually mean a whole lot, and there could still be five planes ahead of you. I have a hard time pointing too many fingers at the air traffic controller here, but he did seem to be a bit confused:
- First he told the Delta pilot that there would be a plane waiting on the intersecting runway, suggesting the American plane would be cleared for takeoff after the Delta plane landed
- I guess he then saw a gap for the American plane to take off, but he should’ve specifically instructed the plane to take off with no delay, since there’s not otherwise an exact time limit regarding how quickly you have to take off
- Admittedly, the American pilots should’ve probably been a bit more alert, with better situational awareness — they were warned there would be traffic landing on the intersecting runway, so to wait around 45 seconds to start your takeoff roll is quite a long time at an airport like that
- It’s a bit odd how the air traffic controller then asked the American pilots what they were doing, as if he never gave the takeoff clearance
It just seems like it’s far too common for air traffic controllers to forget who they did and didn’t clear, and that’s only a problem due to how far in advance they give clearance.
Unfortunately this is far from the first time we’ve seen such a close call in Boston involving intersecting runways. Heck, I wrote about a similar situation in late 2025.
Bottom line
On Saturday, an American and Delta jet had a very close call in Boston, whereby one plane was taking off while the other plane was attempting to land. Fortunately the pilots of the plane that was landing saw what was going on, and aborted their approach at the last moment.
This was obviously such an avoidable situation on multiple levels. At the same time, it’s surprisingly common, given the United States’ weird system for clearing aircraft to land. Ultimately the way landing clearance is done in the United States just doesn’t make much sense. Add in the American pilots delaying their takeoff and the air traffic controller not understanding why the American plane was taking off, and you have a recipe for a mess.
What do you make of this Boston Logan close call?
Too many flights ... reduce by half .
that just locks in a duopoly and even when that kind of thing is done it solidifies the position of the strongest carriers which in BOS is DL.
BOS is a busy place but it is far from clear that the airport can't handle the traffic it handles. There weren't and aren't long lines waiting for takeoff.
Considering safety , there really are too many flights . There are also too high fares and fees , which are nothing more than greed . Reduce number of flights and fares/fees by half.
yes, the controller was talking faster than he could think and pushing metal with lots of lives at stake.
at sub-story is that AA and DL are the only 2 carriers flying BOS-DFW and DL is now flying it 3X/day while B6 isn't in the market at all anymore.
DL has built quite the operation at BOS in the past 5 years
Trying to push your pro DL agenda early Sun AM on a totally unrelated article.
You are quite the sad and pathetic human being.
facts are facts whether you like them or not.
The US aviation system works because of multiple vigilant parties. The DL crew did not believe the AA flight would be clear of the runway intersection and acted. These kinds of things happen w/ regularity in a system that pushes enormous amounts of traffic through airports that are working well beyond design levels.
It is always notable to see who actually is flying markets that...
facts are facts whether you like them or not.
The US aviation system works because of multiple vigilant parties. The DL crew did not believe the AA flight would be clear of the runway intersection and acted. These kinds of things happen w/ regularity in a system that pushes enormous amounts of traffic through airports that are working well beyond design levels.
It is always notable to see who actually is flying markets that are involved in incidents like this.
AA and DL happen to be flying both BOS-CLT and BOS-DFW, both of which have much larger AA hubs on one end of the route.
DL has done more to build hubs and open new markets than any other airline. Its leadership of the domestic industry which drives system finances is because of its size in major industry markets.
over the past 5 years, DL has overtaken B6 in size at BOS and will very likely gain more gates as the connector between terminals A and B is completed. DL pushes more traffic through its gates than any other airline at BOS while AA is one of several airlines w/ low gate utilization.
The only thing that is pathetic is that people like you are so easily triggered by hearing about DL's success.
A single word would've turned this into a non-event- clearing American for "immediate" takeoff. If they needed 45 seconds to complete their checklists, they would then decline the clearance and there would be no conflict.