Business jet departs without clearance at LaGuardia; FAA investigating

A NetJets Embraer Phenom 300 departed from LaGuardia Airport on Oct. 7 without takeoff clearance while an Endeavor Air Bombardier CRJ900, flying as Delta Connection Flight 5415, was approaching an intersecting runway, according to an ABC7 report. The Delta crew performed a go-around and the regional flight landed safely.

Radio transmissions captured a disagreement between the business jet's pilot and a controller about whether clearance to depart had been given, and that dispute is part of the inquiry. The encounter took place shortly before 4 p.m. Flightradar24 tracking data cited in the report put the two aircraft about 1,000 feet apart.

Delta said the go-around was carried out to maintain safe spacing from a departing aircraft on a nearby runway. The FAA is investigating the departure to establish what happened.

The episode occurred at the same airport where an Air Canada Express CRJ900 struck a firefighting vehicle that had been cleared to cross a runway in March. Both pilots died and dozens of people were hurt. The NTSB's investigation into that accident is still open.