Boeing 767-222 incident near Boston, Massachusetts, October 19, 2002
On October 19, 2002 at about 12:50 pm local time, a Boeing 767-222, registered N607UA, suffered minor damage in an incident near Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 128 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
An inadvertant collision with birds during the initial climb out.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 19, 2002 · about 12:50 pm local time
- Place
- Boston, Massachusetts · Logan International Airport · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 128 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-222 · all 767-222s on the register
- Registration
- N607UA · no longer on the register · serial 21868
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Boeing 767 struck three birds during the initial climb out from runway 22. One double-crested cormorant was ingested by the #2 engine, another struck the right wing, and a third bird was found seriously injured on the runway. The airplane returned to the airport and landed uneventfully. Examination revealed damage to the right inboard leading edge slat, landing light, and the #2 engine bypass stator vanes. A review of the airport's Wildlife Hazard Management Plan revealed that on the morning of the incident, two wildlife technicians reported "heavy bird activity" to the control tower. The airport's Automated Terminal Information System (ATIS) was then updated to reflect the hazard, and was still active at the time of the incident. Prior to the airplane's take-off, one of the wildlife plan supervisors reported a flock of birds to the control tower and said they were flying about 200 feet over the approach end of runway 15, moving southbound. A tower controller responded that they had the birds in sight. Shortly thereafter, another airplane departed runway 22 without incident, then the incident airplane took off. A review of air traffic control communications revealed that no specific warning was given by the air traffic controllers to either of the crews, due to the fact that the birds were not in their flight path. It was believed that the flock then split into two or three separate flocks after the other airplane took off, with one of the flocks turning east and directly into the path of the incident airplane.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
The aircraft
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney JT9-74RD (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: BOS Boston MA at 12:50 pm
- Destination: SFR San Fransisco CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 33L, 10,081 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 200° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 8,500 ft
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 41°F (5°C)
- Altimeter: 30.05 inHg
- Observation at 12:54 pm from BOS
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 9 | |||
| Passengers | 119 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.