Plane, vehicle near a collision

The incident, classified as the most serious type of runway incursion short of a collision, occurred at 6:36 a.m. and terrified air traffic controllers, who saw the vehicle dangerously close to the plane’s wing shortly after the flight was cleared for takeoff.

“It was a serious thing, a matter of seconds,’’ said Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport. “It was an actual near miss.’’

Officials said the driver of the vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was on a taxiway and apparently failed to follow safety procedures requiring him to stop at the runway intersection and radio the tower for permission to cross. The taxiway, known as Taxiway M, is in the middle of the airfield and under construction. It crosses Runway 15R, the one the plane was speeding down.

Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said an alarm sounded in the control tower warning that an object was on the runway, and air traffic controllers noticed the vehicle.

Controllers can be heard on a radio recording giving the plane permission for takeoff, then questioning the presence of the truck.

“The truck just clears the runway as [the plane] goes through the intersection,’’ Peters said.

The driver - who works for HNTB Inc., a company involved in the taxiway construction - has been suspended pending an internal investigation, officials said. The company is cooperating fully. The driver was not identified.

The Massachusetts Port Authority said yesterday that it had suspended all construction at the airport.

“Until we know the factors that contributed to this event, whether it was the failure of an individual or there was a failure in the system, and [have] implemented measures to minimize further the potential for such events, construction on the airfield will be suspended,’’ the authority said in a statement.

Orlandella could not say how much construction is underway at the airport, but said it is widespread.

The jet, a US Airways Flight 27, departed safely yesterday and arrived as planned in Phoenix about 9 a.m. EDT. Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for US Airways, said the plane was carrying 84 passengers and five crew members. The jet was an Airbus 320.

Durrant said in a statement that it would be “inappropriate for us to comment further as the FAA is investigating.’’

The construction of the taxiway was commissioned last year as one of several projects to help with safety at the airport after a series of incursions occurred between 2003 and 2006, with at least 14 incursions in 2005, among the highest rates of any major airport in the country.

The airport has had 16 incursions since the beginning of 2008, though none were as serious as yesterday’s incident.

Orlandella said the last time a high-risk incursion occurred was in 2005: in that instance, two jets speeding toward takeoff nearly collided at more than 160 miles per hour.

Last year, the FAA agreed to partially fund a $5 million project to install special lights to warn pilots when it is unsafe to cross a runway or taxiway. A new runway was built in 2006.

The taxiway was being built to decrease the number of runways that planes must cross and to reduce ground delays.

The series of projects was meant to help with safety on Logan’s complex set of intersecting runways. Last year, the Air Line Pilots Association named Logan as its Airport of the Year for its enhanced efforts to reduce runway incursions.

Matt McCluskey, president of the Boston chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said yesterday that the union has called for new technology that could provide better safety measures for incidents like the one that occurred yesterday.

He said the proposed transponders, which would be built into airport vehicles, would alert air traffic controllers of a vehicle’s presence on a runway. Right now, only airplanes have the transponders, and the devices only alert authorities when an object comes within a certain distance of a plane.

“What these transponders allow is another safety option,’’ McCluskey said. “They can be put into vehicles. Enhance this equipment, make it safer.’’

He said the installation of the technology has been delayed by federal authorities.

Orlandella said yesterday that the Massachusetts Port Authority is in the process of acquiring the equipment and that it will take time to implement.

He said, however, that each runway and taxiway is marked with appropriate red paint and “Stop - Contact Ground Control’’ signs.

Peters said investigators will look to interview the captain and first officer, as well as the driver and the traffic controllers.

Investigators will also review ground radar data and will inspect audio tapes. An Airbus 320 jet can take off at speeds ranging from 170 to 250 miles per hour.

“We’ll review the procedures, the training - everything will be looked at,’’ Peters said.

As part of the investigation, the construction vehicle’s driver was asked if he was using a cellphone at the time of the incident, a violation of airport policy, Orlandella said.

The driver told investigators he was not, Orlandella said. He said investigators had no reason to believe the man was using the phone.