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Probe continues, airfield work suspended, after Logan incident

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 19, 2009 01:08 PM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Construction on the airfield at Logan International Airport remains suspended today as officials probe how a construction vehicle crossed a runway Thursday in front of a jet speeding toward takeoff.

The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, and the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates the airport, are investigating, said airport spokesman Phil Orlandella.

Orlandella said Massport was reviewing its policies and procedures and they "most likely will be adjusted."

"What you can do out there, how you can drive, who has to do what, are being looked at," he said.

Construction will resume on airfield projects as soon as the investigation is finished, the policies and procedures are changed, and word is spread about them, Orlandella said. He said he couldn't predict when that would happen.

A Ford Explorer, which was driving down Taxiway M, which is under construction, crossed Runway 15R at 6:36 a.m. Thursday just as US Airways Flight 27 to Phoenix was charging toward takeoff. After the near-miss, the flight continued to Phoenix without any problems. The incident has been classified as the most serious type of runway incursion short of a collision.