US blames confused Air Canada pilots after jet almost landed on four other airliners in San Francisco
The crew was seconds from landing their Airbus A320 jet on a taxiway where other planes loaded with passengers were waiting to take off
A potentially “catastrophic” incident involving an Air Canada passenger jet that overflew other aircraft at close range on a San Francisco International Airport taxiway was the result of crew errors, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday.
Air Canada flight 759 from Toronto was set to land on runway 28R in July 2017 but instead headed for a parallel taxiway where four aeroplanes were awaiting clearance.
It could have been the worst disaster in aviation history, with more than 1,000 people aboard the five aircraft.
The aircraft overflew two of the planes and flew as low as 18 metres (60 feet) before starting to climb to avoid landing.
The NTSB said the incident stemmed from the flight crew’s lack of awareness of a runway closure and cited the airline’s ineffective presentation of approach information among other issues.
“The mistakes identified in this report highlight the need for further review of approach and landing procedures,” said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt.
“This event could very easily have had a catastrophic outcome.’