What happened
On the evening of November 15, 1961, a ground collision took place at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. The incident occurred around 17:10 local time, roughly 47 minutes after sunset. The accident involved two aircraft: a National Airlines DC-6B, registration N8228H, and a Northeast Airlines Viscount, registration N6592C.
The National Airlines flight was preparing for departure from runway 09, bound for Norfolk, Virginia, via several intermediate stops. Simultaneously, the Northeast Airlines aircraft was in its landing roll on runway 04R, having arrived from Washington, D.C., with a stop at LaGuardia Airport.
Both aircraft sustained significant damage during the impact. While there were no serious injuries reported among the crew or passengers of the DC-6B, the collision resulted in four passengers from the Viscount sustaining minor cuts and abrasions as they were deplaning.
Findings
The investigation determined that the primary cause of the accident was the commencement of takeoff by National Airlines Flight 429 without proper clearance. Additionally, investigators noted that tower personnel failed to maintain sufficient surveillance of the active runways and did not issue a warning to the pilot of the departing aircraft regarding the potential conflict with the landing aircraft.