Last Thursday morning at Logan Airport, a construction vehicle almost collided with an airplane when the vehicle strayed into an unauthorized area. The incident occurred at 6:36am and halted all construction at the airport until authorities determine if the near collision occurred because of individual error or a system failure.
According to officials, the driver of a Ford Explorer was on a taxiway and evidently failed to stop at the runway intersection and radio the tower for permission to cross as required by safety procedures. An alarm sounded in the control tower warning about the vehicle on the runway. The truck cleared the runway just as the plane just through the intersection. The unidentified truck driver has been suspended pending an internal investigation. The jet, a US Airways Flight 27, took off safely and arrived in Phoenix as planned.
The last time a high-risk incursion was in 2005 when two jets speeding toward takeoff almost collided at more than 160 miles per hour. Logan Airport has had 16 incursions since January of 2008, but none was as serious as the near accident last week.
Plane, vehicle near a collision, Boston Globe, June 19, 2009
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