3 Delta Jets in Mishaps at Cincinnati and Boston

Two Delta Air Lines jets were forced to return to the Cincinnati airport shortly after takeoff because of equipment failures Sunday, the same day a Delta plane landed on the wrong runway at Boston in a rash of incidents involving the airline, officials said today.

Cincinnati airport officials said there were no injuries and no irregularities in the Boeing 767 return landings Sunday.

One flight took off from the airport in suburban Florence, Ky., on Sunday morning headed for New York with 69 passengers, but 10 minutes later an oil-pressure light flashed a warning in the cockpit and the pilot shut off one engine.

Sunday evening, a flight bound for San Francisco returned for repairs to its automatic pilot device. The flight later resumed on the same plane. Among the jet’s 113 passengers were six major league baseball players en route to tonight’s All-Star game in Oakland, Calif.

In Boston on Sunday, a Delta passenger jet landed on the wrong runway at Logan International Airport and forced another plane to brake to avoid a collision, federal officials said.

The incident occurred about 11:15 p.m. when the Delta Boeing 767 from San Francisco, landed 1,500 feet from its assigned strip.

An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727, Flight 60 from New Orleans, was on a taxiway crossing the runway on its way to a passenger terminal when its flight crew noticed the rapidly descending Delta jet at 6,000 feet, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Ciccarelli said.

The Eastern jet braked and had nearly stopped when the Delta plane took a quick turn off the runway.

Ciccarelli said the FAA is questioning flight crews from both airlines and an air traffic controller to determine the cause of the mix-up in Boston.

“There is an investigation under way and (someone) could face several penalties, including a suspension of license,” he said.

Sunday’s incidents were the latest in a series of six close calls involving Delta jets.