- Date
- February 27, 2023, 18:54 local (23:54 UTC)
- Place
- Boston, MA
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Runway incursion veh/AC/person
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Parties
- Hop A Jet, JetBlue
- Case key
- 106806
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The Hop-a-Jet flight crew taking off without a takeoff clearance which resulted in a conflict with a JetBlue flight that had been cleared to land on an intersecting runway.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
N280LJ · Learjet 60
N179JB · Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
N280LJ · Learjet 60
Analysis
JetBlue’s flight 206 (JBU206) flight crew initiated a go-around while over runway 04R due to Hop-a-Jet flight 280 (HPJ280) taking off without a takeoff clearance from runway 09 at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Runways 04R and 09 at BOS are intersecting runways. The BOS tower controller had instructed the pilot of HPJ280 to line up and wait (LUAW) on runway 09 while JBU206 had been cleared to land on runway 04R. HPJ280’s flight crew read back the controller’s instructions to LUAW, however they began the takeoff-roll instead. The airport surface detection equipment, model X (ASDE-X) alerted, and the controller issued go-around instructions to JBU206. JBU206’s flight crew initiated a go-around while over runway 04R, prior to reaching the intersection with runway 09. The closest proximity between both airplanes occurred when JBU206 was about 30ft AGL during the landing flare, close to the point where both runways intersected, see figure 1. A video file taken by the occupant of the flight deck observer seat was provided to the NTSB and a screen capture from the video is shown in figure 2. Figure 1. Flight tracks of both JetBlue (JBU206) and Hop-a-Jet (HPJ280) with yellow circle indicating incursion area. Figure 2: Screen capture from jump-seat occupant’s video recording showing Lear 60 crossing runway centerline. The captain of HPJ280 said that they had received clearance to cross runway 4L on taxiway E, and then take taxiway Mike, to Runway 9. On taxiway M he said, “they had heard a clearance that seems to be Line Up and Wait." He further stated that “he probably responded to the clearance, but in his mind, they were cleared for takeoff.” He said they performed the takeoff at 18:55 local time, and during cruise they received a message from ATC providing them with a phone number to call upon landing. After landing at FXE, BOS tower told them that they had taken off without authorization and caused an airplane that had been cleared to land on runway 04 to execute a go-around, passing about 400' above them. The first officer of JBU206 was the pilot flying, and they were on the ILS runway 04R approach. The captain of JBU206 said they had been cleared to land and had completed the landing checklist. On the tower frequency, they heard that an aircraft had been given LUAW instructions. As they entered the flare after crossing the threshold of runway 04R, about 30 feet above the ground, he saw an airplane cross 04R on runway 09 from his left and going to the right but could not estimate how far away the airplane was.
Aircraft · 2
- Registration
- N280LJ
- Reported as
- Learjet 60
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 60-280
- Built
- 2004
- Engines
- P&W Canada PW305A, 4,679 lbs thrust, turbo fanP&W Canada PW305A, 4,679 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Hop A Jet
- Registered owner
- East Shore Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- KFXE · Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- KBOS · Boston-Logan Innternational Airport, runway 04L, 7,864 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
- Registration
- N179JB
- Reported as
- Embraer ERJ 190-100 IGW
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19000006
- Built
- 2005
- Engines
- Ama/Expr UNKNOWN ENGAma/Expr UNKNOWN ENG
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- JetBlue Airways
- Registered owner
- Bank Of Utah Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- KBNA · Nashville, TN
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- IFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 4
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N280LJ
- Age
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 11, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 22,544 total · 2,317 in this make and model · 16,971 as pilot in command · 126 in the last 90 days · 51 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot, aircraft N280LJ
- Age
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 30, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,027 total · 388 in this make and model · 1,649 as pilot in command · 160 in the last 90 days · 55 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot, aircraft N179JB
- Age
- 36
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 31, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 7,505 total · 1,673 in this make and model · 2,817 as pilot in command · 71 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Co-pilot, aircraft N179JB
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 28, 2022
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 2,280 total · 75 in this make and model · 985 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 47 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 330° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.83 inHg
- Observed at
- BOS
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 3, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.0 MB in all.