The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched an investigation on June 20, 2026, after Delta Air Lines (DL) Flight 2351 was forced to execute a go-around at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Boston, Massachusetts. The aircraft, arriving from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), aborted its landing to avoid a collision with an American Airlines (AA) Boeing 737-800 that had been cleared for takeoff on an intersecting runway. The incident occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time and involved 129 passengers and six crew members aboard the Delta aircraft. All passengers and crew landed safely and deplaned normally following a second landing attempt.
The Delta flight crew identified the conflict before air traffic control (ATC) was aware of the situation and immediately initiated the go-around. According to a Delta Air Lines spokesperson, as reported by the Associated Press, “nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people,” and the crew of Flight 2351 followed established procedures in coordination with air traffic control to perform the go-around safely.
The Sequence of Events That Led to the Close Call
At approximately 11:34 a.m. local time on Saturday, June 20, 2026, two flights were simultaneously operating at Boston Logan — American Airlines Flight AA3161, scheduled to depart to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), operated by a Boeing 737-800, and Delta Flight DL2351, scheduled to arrive from Dallas, operated by an Airbus A319.
Air traffic control first cleared AA3161 to line up and wait on Runway 27 and issued 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 received a warning about traffic holding on Runway 27.
After issuing instructions to pilots of three other flights from Jazz Aviation, JetBlue, and Republic Airways, the controller then returned to American Airlines Flight 3161 and gave the pilots clearance to take off from Runway 27. This clearance created a direct conflict with DL2351, which was already on final approach to the intersecting Runway 33L.
It took the pilots of American Airlines Flight 3161 around 40 seconds to power up the engines and start speeding along the runway for takeoff. At that point, Delta Flight 2351 was on top of the threshold of Runway 33L, mere feet from touching down. The pilots suddenly noticed the American Airlines aircraft barreling down the runway from their right and quickly initiated a go-around, climbing more than 2,000 feet in just a couple of seconds.
The Delta aircrew called out to the tower to inform ATC that they would go around before ATC was even aware of the situation. The close call ended safely, with the aftermath being only a delayed landing.
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What The Recordings Reveal
Aviation audio recordings obtained and shared on social media platform X by aviation insider JonNYC shed light on the breakdown in situational awareness by the air traffic controller at the time.
In what appears to be a collapse in situational awareness, the controller called out to the AAL3161 pilot as if unaware of the reason why the plane was moving down Runway 27, saying, “Where are you going?” The pilot of AAL3161 simply responded that they had received clearance to take off and continued the takeoff roll as DL2351 climbed back up for another attempt at landing.
The controller was then checked by another pilot on the frequency, who informed him that he had cleared them for takeoff. This exchange, captured in the audio recording, raised immediate questions about controller workload and situational awareness.
As One Mile at a Time reported, the air traffic controller appeared to be working under an extremely high workload. The controller had issued a rapid sequence of instructions to multiple aircraft with almost no pause on frequency before the AA3161 takeoff clearance was given.
The Aircraft Involved: Airbus A319 Versus Boeing 737-800
The two aircraft at the centre of this close call are both narrow-body, single-aisle jets used extensively across the United States. Below are the key specifications of each aircraft type:
Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 (DL2351):
- Manufacturer: Airbus
- Type: Narrow-body, single-aisle jet
- Typical seating capacity: 120–160 passengers
- Engines: Two CFM56 or IAE V2500 turbofans
- Range: Approximately 3,750 nautical miles (6,950 km)
- Role: Short- to medium-haul domestic and regional routes
American Airlines Boeing 737-800 (AA3161):
- Manufacturer: Boeing
- Type: Narrow-body, single-aisle jet
- Typical seating capacity: 160–175 passengers
- Engines: Two CFM56-7B turbofans
- Range: Approximately 2,935 nautical miles (5,440 km)
- Role: Domestic and medium-haul routes
In the video shared by JonNYC, the American Airlines Boeing 737-800 crosses through the runway intersection at precisely the moment when the Delta Airbus A319 would have touched down, had it not been for the pilots’ high situational awareness.
Official Responses from Delta, American Airlines, And the FAA
A Delta spokesperson confirmed that the crew of Flight 2351 followed established procedures in coordination with air traffic control and performed a go-around safely, noting that nothing is more important than the safety of customers and crew.
American Airlines and the airport referred all requests for comment to the FAA.
The FAA issued a formal statement on the incident. As reported by Simple Flying, the FAA stated: “The crew of Delta Air Lines Flight 2351 executed a go-around at Boston Logan International Airport because another aircraft was departing from an intersecting runway. The FAA is investigating the event which occurred around 11:30 a.m.”
The FAA also clarified that go-arounds are safe, routine procedures performed at the discretion of the pilot or air traffic controllers. However, the broader context of the event — including the timing, the audio recording, and Boston Logan’s history of runway incursions — elevated the incident well beyond a routine procedural matter.
Why Boston Logan’s Runway Layout Is Particularly Challenging
Boston Logan International Airport is operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) and is notable as one of the US airports with the most runways. It has a total of six intersecting runways across a 2,400-acre facility and is made significantly more complex by nearly 20 miles of taxiway.
As far as safety is concerned, there is little margin for error, as the airport is surrounded on three sides by the waters of Boston Harbor and sits just 19 feet above sea level.
At the time of the near miss, flights arriving at Boston Logan were landing on Runway 33L, which is the airport’s longest runway at 10,083 feet. Departures were taking off from Runway 27, which intersects with Runway 33L approximately 2,300–2,600 feet from the threshold of Runway 33L.
As One Mile at a Time explained, Boston Logan has a particularly unusual runway configuration. It has two runways that intersect the parallel runways, and the two non-parallel runways also intersect each other. This makes the airport one of the more complex environments for air traffic controllers to manage simultaneously.
Boston Logan’s Runway Has a Pattern of Concern
The June 20 incident did not occur in isolation. Boston Logan has a documented history of runway incursions that has drawn growing attention from federal regulators and safety researchers.
A study ranked Boston Logan International Airport fourth in the United States for the most runway incursions, tied with Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The research was conducted by a travel credit card website called Upgraded Points, using data directly from the FAA’s online data tracking tools.
The data reviewed was between 2021 and 2024. During that time period, Logan had 83 runway incursions. Two flights from Washington D.C.’s Reagan airport to Boston’s Logan airport were involved in near misses in 2024. There were also 30 incidents involving near mid-air collisions in Boston in the last decade, according to FAA records.
Almost all of the incursions at Logan — 81 out of 83 — were considered low level, meaning there was plenty of time to avoid a collision or there were no immediate safety consequences. Only two were of a higher level, meaning there was potential for a collision. One of them occurred in February 2023, when a smaller Learjet took off without clearance and crossed into the landing path of a JetBlue flight on an intersecting runway.
Massport has said that safety improvement work includes two 75-day runway closures — one that began September 2, 2025, and another scheduled to begin July 1, 2026.
Comparing This Incident with Recent Safety Events Involving Delta
The June 20 Boston Logan incident is not the first time Delta Air Lines has been involved in a close call or safety event in recent months. A review of incidents involving the carrier paints a broader picture of the pressures facing commercial aviation.
In March 2025, federal aviation officials investigated a close call between a Delta Air Lines passenger plane and an Air Force jet outside Washington D.C., that triggered a collision warning and corrective instructions from air traffic controllers. The incident came nearly two months after a fatal collision at the same airport between an airliner and an Army helicopter.
In February 2025, Delta Connection Flight 4819, operated by a Bombardier CRJ900 regional jet with 76 passengers and four crew, crashed while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), causing it to flip over on the runway. All 80 people on board survived, though 21 sustained injuries.
In October 2025, two Delta Connection flights — both Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft operated by Endeavor Air — were involved in a low-speed collision at LaGuardia Airport (LGA). The wing of one aircraft struck the front end of the other.
A separate surface contact at Boston Logan also involved a United Airlines aircraft whose wing clipped the tail of a Delta jet while both aircraft were maneuvering on the ground, an occurrence that the FAA has also moved to review.
The latest close call also follows a July 2025 SkyWest-Delta connection go-around in North Dakota that involved a near-collision.
ATC Staffing and Runway Incursion Trends in the US
The Boston Logan close call arrives at a time of heightened scrutiny over US air traffic control systems.
Since the tragic accident involving American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan Washington National Airport in January 2025, US airports have come under greater scrutiny. That accident led to the deaths of 67 crew and passengers when a regional jet collided with an Army helicopter flying under its approach path.
According to an Upgraded Points study examining FAA data from 2021 to 2024, high-risk runway incursions rose steadily from 2017 through 2023, peaking at 21 incidents. The numbers fell sharply in 2024 to just seven — the lowest total since 2010.
In fiscal year 2024, the FAA reported a total of nine serious Category A and B runway incursions, representing only 0.51 percent of total incidents for the year. This was the lowest reported number of serious runway incursions since fiscal year 2019 and a 59 percent reduction from the 22 serious incursions reported in fiscal year 2023.
Despite this improvement in statistics, the FAA has been working to overhaul ATC equipment and improve controller staffing levels around the nation, but continues to see runway incursions as well as other loss-of-separation events. The National Transportation Safety Board has helped with investigations and safety recommendations. As a result, the FAA is pushing updates to Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) and Airport Surface Surveillance Capability (ASSC).
What Massport Is Doing to Improve Safety at Boston Logan
Massport, the authority that operates Boston Logan, has taken concrete steps to address the airport’s runway safety challenges following prior incidents and FAA recommendations.
Following several incidents where aircraft encountered marginal braking performance on a wet or icy runway, nearly resulting in an overrun, Massport undertook several runway rehabilitation projects. The rehabilitation of Runway 9-27 began in late 2020, and the rehabilitation of Runway 15R-33L was completed a year later. These included new pavement, upgraded electrical equipment, and LED runway lights to improve visibility and reduce the risk of runway incursions.
Logan has nearly 20 miles of complex, intersecting taxiways, many of them laid down more than half a century ago. The airport is in the process of re-paving the taxiways, installing new LED lighting to raise visibility, as well as adjusting the layout to improve sightlines and minimize potential conflicts.
Massport has been working with the FAA on a list of recommendations to improve its ground safety, with initial indications suggesting that taxiways are likely to be redesigned.
The FAA’s Runway Status Lights system uses automated runway and taxiway lights to warn pilots and vehicle operators when it is unsafe to enter, cross, or begin takeoff on a runway. This system represents one layer in a multi-tier approach to runway safety that the FAA promotes nationally.
What Is a Go-Around and Why Does It Matter
A go-around is a standard aviation safety maneuver. It refers to the decision by a pilot — or instruction from air traffic control — to abandon a landing approach and climb back to a safe altitude before attempting another approach. The FAA classifies it as a safe, routine procedure.
However, what distinguishes this incident from a routine go-around is the triggering event. The FAA documents each runway incursion incident, identifies root causes, and implements corrective measures — which may include additional training, procedural changes, or staffing adjustments at affected facilities.
Despite massive investment in runway-incursion monitoring systems at major US airports, the controller in this case had no idea of the potentially catastrophic situation that was unfolding until alerted by the Delta pilots. This is a critical detail that regulators are expected to examine as part of the investigation.
The incident also renewed a debate about US landing clearance procedures. As One Mile at a Time noted, in many other countries, an aircraft is cleared to land only when the runway is definitively clear — meaning no other plane is on the runway or crossing it. The US system of issuing provisional landing clearance while other traffic may still be on intersecting runways has drawn criticism from aviation observers in the wake of this event.
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An FAA Investigation Will Follow
The FAA has formally confirmed that it is investigating the incident. The event has been classified as a serious runway safety incident and is now the subject of a formal investigation. While the immediate focus is on tower communications and crew decision-making in the moments leading up to the go-around, the case is also being viewed within a broader pattern of runway incursions and surface events that have affected major US airports since early 2023.
At Boston Logan, the FAA will need to determine how the aircraft were cleared onto intersecting runways, whether procedures were followed correctly, and how a routine go-around became necessary in the first place.
The FAA defines a runway incursion as the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area used for aircraft landing and take-off. The most serious events are those where a collision is narrowly avoided. Regulators will need to determine which category this incident falls under, and what systemic changes, if any, are required at Boston Logan as a result.