American Airlines AA2616 Declares Emergency, Returns to Boston

An American Airlines flight departing for Philadelphia return to Boston after declaring an emergency after takeoff on 17 August.

American Airlines flight AA2616, operated by an Airbus A321-200, had conducted a departure from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

The aircraft was performing a scheduled service bound for Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).

American Airlines AA2616 Boston-Philadelphia

Shortly after takeoff from runway 22R, flight crew terminated the departure procedure and level the aircraft off at 8000 feet.

After a brief holding period of the coast, the flight made a direct return to Boston Logan. During the approach procedure, flight crew squawked emergency transponder code 77004 landing priority.

The nature of the emergency prompting the early return is not yet known.

Flight & Aircraft Data

Flight data shows that flight AA2616 had made a delayed departure from Boston Logan International Airport. Actual departure time for the service was logged as 6:44 PM local time on 17 August.

The scheduled departure time for the rotation was listed as 3:57 PM local time.

Following takeoff, the climb was immediately terminated at 8000 feet before the aircraft entered one holding pattern procedure off the coast to Boston.

The flight was then vectored for a direct return to Boston Logan, before conducting a landing on runway 22L.

The aircraft conducting the AA2616 rotation to Philadelphia International Airport was an Airbus A321-200, registered N157UW. This is a 12.1 year old narrow body aircraft belonging to the carrier American Airlines.

It has been in operational service with the airline since December 2013.

The aircraft was involved in a recent incident in Las Vegas. On 25 June 2025, the aircraft made a precautionary return return to Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) after the right-hand engine began searching shortly after takeoff.