The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Business Jet Takes Off Without Clearance At LaGuardia
FAA investigates after a Delta regional flight was forced to go around at an intersecting runway.
The FAA is investigating an incident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in which a NetJets Embraer Phenom 300 business jet reportedly departed without takeoff clearance as an Endeavor Air Bombardier CRJ900, operating as Delta Connection Flight 5415, approached an intersecting runway. The Oct. 7 encounter prompted the Delta crew to execute a go-around, according to an ABC7 report published Tuesday.
Disputed Takeoff Clearance
Air traffic control recordings captured a disagreement between the business jet pilot and a controller over whether the aircraft had received clearance to depart. The circumstances surrounding the disputed clearance remain under investigation.
The incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. According to flight-tracking data from Flightradar24, the aircraft came within approximately 1,000 feet of each other.
FAA Investigation
“The crew initiated a go-around to ensure safe spacing with a departing aircraft on a nearby runway,” Delta said in a statement to ABC7. The regional flight subsequently landed safely.
The FAA is investigating the encounter to determine what occurred during the departure. The incident follows a fatal runway collision at LaGuardia in March, when an Air Canada Express CRJ900 struck an airport firefighting vehicle that had been cleared to cross the runway. Both pilots were killed, and dozens were injured. The NTSB’s investigation into that accident remains ongoing.