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Last week, an Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner twinjet committed a runway incursion at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The US-built widebody had just touched down from Etihad Airways’ main hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) in the UAE, and it was taxiing to its gate when its pilots were instructed to hold short of one of Boston’s six runways as part of their route to the stand.
The need to hold short was acknowledged by the crew of the Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Despite this, however, when they came to the runway in question, they continued their taxi across the landing strip instead of holding short as instructed and acknowledged. This prompted air traffic controllers in Boston to instruct an inbound Republic Airways flight to perform a go-around as it approached.
Clear Instructions
According to One Mile At A Time, the incident took place on Thursday, October 15, 2026, with the offending 
Etihad Airways service being flight EY7. Data from Flightradar24 shows that, on that date, the flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9 that bore the registration A6-BNJ, which landed 15 minutes behind schedule at 2:55 PM local time. At around the same time, a Delta Air Lines flight was on approach.
Operated by a Republic Airways Embraer E175 registered as N224JQ, the service in question was Delta Connection flight DL5739 from New York LaGuardia (LGA). This sector and the aircraft’s preceding two flights are shown above in tandem with EY7’s transatlantic hop. After EY7 landed, its pilots were told to taxi to their gate via taxiways R and N, and to hold short of runway 4L, which they acknowledged.
As it happened, 4L was the strip that DL5739 was about to land on, hence the instruction to hold short. However, despite acknowledging the instruction, the Etihad pilots continued their taxi across 4L, prompting the E175 to have to go around. Simple Flying has reached out to Etihad Airways for further information regarding this incident. We will update our coverage upon receiving a statement from the carrier.
No Knock-On Disruption Despite The Runway Incursion
As seen in the video below, the air traffic controller’s swift actions prevented the two aircraft from coming into conflict. However, while the situation was resolved easily enough, that may not have been the end of it for the Etihad crew, as, towards the end of their taxi, they were given a number to call regarding their possible deviation. This is standard procedure, but not a message that any pilot wants to hear.
In any case, this runway incursion did not appear to have any meaningful knock-on operational impact. After going around, the Delta flight eventually touched back down in Boston at the second time of asking, also on runway 4L. Despite having to go around, its arrival came 14 minutes ahead of schedule, at 3:09 PM. N224JQ subsequently remained on schedule for the rest of Thursday and most of Friday.
Likewise, the Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 involved in this incident was also more or less back on schedule by the time it had landed back at its home base in Abu Dhabi after operating the return flight from Boston.EY8 took off almost an hour behind schedule on Thursday, at 5:28 PM vs 4:35 PM, but it overcame most of this delay, and was only seven minutes late when it landed at 1:07 PM local time on Friday.
Boston Has Already Seen Another High-Profile Runway Incursion This Year
Runway incursions and other close calls have become something of a hot topic in US aviation in recent years, particularly as the country struggles to come to terms with crippling air traffic control shortages. As it happens, 
Boston Logan International Airport is not immune to these issues.
On this front, Aero Corner notes that a more serious close call occurred on June 20 of this year involving an American Airlines Boeing 737 and a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319. In this instance, the 737 was cleared to take off from runway 27, despite this strip intersecting with the runway (33L) that the A319 had simultaneously been cleared to land on. At their closest point, the two jets were 670 feet (204 m) apart.
