Everyone involved is lucky that they walked away from this. Article from the NY Post.
AIRLINE PILOT IN BLUNDER LAND
By MURRAY WEISS and JEREMY OLSHAN
October 31, 2006 — EXCLUSIVEA catastrophe was narrowly averted when a jetliner landed on a narrow taxiway at Newark Airport instead of on the runway, The Post has learned.
In an astonishing screw-up Saturday, the pilot of Continental Flight 1883 touched down on a taxiway just to the north of the runway – only feet from administrative buildings. Then he proceeded to the gate as if nothing had happened, sources said yesterday.
“To say this is lucky was an understatement,” one source said. “This is a big f- – -ing deal! How do you land a jet on a taxiway?”
FAA investigators are trying to figure out what caused the “pilot deviation,” officials said yesterday. Although no one was hurt, experts say there could have been a disaster had another plane been on the taxiway at the time. The Boeing 757-200, flying in from Orlando, Fla., made a standard approach over the New Jersey Turnpike. But rather than landing on the 6,800-foot-long, 150-foot-wide Runway 29, it touched down on the 70-foot-wide taxiway at 6:31 p.m., sources said. The pilot made such a short stop, he left skid
marks on the taxiway, which were later found by police investigating the bizarre incident, according to a source. Experts said they were baffled how, on a clear night, the pilot could mistake a runway for a taxiway. The sun had set at 5:58 p.m. The plane carried 157 passengers and a crew of six, airline officials said.Port Authority police were immediately notified. But the pilot didn’t hang around to explain himself. “There was no acknowledgment from the crew they had landed at the taxiway,” the source said. Regulations require a pilot to notify the control tower if the runway is missed, sources said. The penalties for the failure to call the tower may be more severe than for the mistake itself, another source said.
It’s possible the passengers had no idea what had occurred, the sources said.
FAA officials would say only that the matter is “under investigation.”Continental said it has grounded the pilots pending the investigation. “We are conducting a review of the landing to determine how it occurred,” spokeswoman Mary Clark said. “The pilots have been temporarily removed from flying duties and are assisting the company in analyzing the incident,” she said. “We have a very strong focus on safety, and plan to use any findings to help avoid a reoccurrence in the future.” The error is serious enough that the pilots could face fines or suspensions, and possibly license revocation, the sources said. The names of the pilot and second-in-command were not made public.
By: wysiwyg - 3rd November 2006 at 09:06
I guess I’m going to throw the cat amongst the pigeons here…
I accept that this is unacceptable but there are many circumstances where this could be a really easy mistake to make. I can name many airports with parallel taxiways that share the same visual proportions to the runway they follow. Combine that fact with no (or unserviceable) ILS and a low sun on the horizon and I guarantee everybody here would be able to make the same mistake at the end of a long day in fading light.
In order to try to reduce the chance of us doing this, Virgin contract Jeppesen to put extra pages into our airfield booklets showing a picture from late finals for every runway we regularly operate to.
By: tommyinyork - 1st November 2006 at 09:43
Very inexcusable indeed.
By: kevinwm - 1st November 2006 at 08:34
If EWR, is COA hub , you would think that the Pilots would be well versed in this type of approach ,I know we are all human, and even I have been Known to make Mistakes, :eek:Surely their training should have taken over and then when they disappeared with out reporting this event, makes me more suspicious
There seems to have been a complete failure to follow procedures , or were the crew unaware of what they did ?, Either way I would Guess that both will be in a lot of trouble
I read the thread on PPRUNE, about this and they are saying that the aircraft was landing into the sun, if this is right, they were very lucky that there was no aircraft on the taxiway
Kevin
By: Bmused55 - 1st November 2006 at 07:25
Runway 29 has PAPI on the right side of the runway.
I can see how Pilots could get confused.
Aren’t PAPI’s typically on the left of a runway?
By: steve rowell - 1st November 2006 at 02:04
Now that’s unforgivable….that could have cost lives
By: Whiskey Delta - 31st October 2006 at 23:20
Runway 29 has PAPI on the right side of the runway.
By: kevinwm - 31st October 2006 at 22:28
No ILS on runway 29. They flew the ILS 22L with a circling approach to runway 29. Also EWR has no taxi lights anywhere at the airport. I have no idea why they are an exception to that standard.
I’m glad that I will never fly into EWR with any airline now , What are the FAA and the airport management doing allowing this situation of no Lights on a taxiway , It beggars belief, I take it 29 dose have approach Lights (PAPI i think is the name of the system in the UK ) They certainly not making the job of Pilots any easier At EWR
Kevin
By: Deano - 31st October 2006 at 22:20
I dont think even i have managed that on flight sim
Twas on purpose of course 🙂
By: caz66 - 31st October 2006 at 22:14
[QUOTE=Deano]
Sounds like my flight sim exploits, there’s nothing wrong with a Taxiway Alpha arrival 😉
I dont think even i have managed that on flight sim
By: Deano - 31st October 2006 at 20:51
Absolutely unbelievable.
Sounds like my flight sim exploits, there’s nothing wrong with a Taxiway Alpha arrival 😉
Joking aside, can you imagine the devastation if this went wrong? does not even warrant thinking about
By: Whiskey Delta - 31st October 2006 at 20:46
No ILS on runway 29. They flew the ILS 22L with a circling approach to runway 29. Also EWR has no taxi lights anywhere at the airport. I have no idea why they are an exception to that standard.
By: kevinwm - 31st October 2006 at 20:38
Kind of worrying this ,you would think that the ILS would have shown that they had deviated from the main runway , and even the visual aids should have made their mistake quite obvious and what where the Guys in the tower doing
With the fact that they dissapeared quite quickly makes you wonder if they were Fit to be flying the aircraft
By: mesabavirtual - 31st October 2006 at 20:03
Omg! Things just keep getting sillier year by year… how can you mistake a runway with a taxiway especially at a big airport, I mean it might not be that bad at a small regional airport but Newark 😮
Glad everything went smoothly and there wasn’t a taxi-tastrophe! 😀
I would recommend these pilots be suspended and maybe re-trained as this could of turned out a disaster
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October 31, 2006 at 7:52 pm