Air Canada Near Miss Within 100 Feet of SF Disaster: NTSB

Air Canada Flight 759 descended toward a taxiway where four planes waited to take off on July 7 at San Francisco International Airport. (National Transportation Safety Board)

By    |   Friday, 04 August 2017 08:11 AM EDT ET

Air Canada's near miss at San Francisco International Airport on July 7 was well within 100 feet, a report from the National Transportation Safety Board said. One expert said the errant jet was just one second away from disaster.

Federal agencies started investigating shortly after the passenger jet attempted to land on an active taxiway where four planes with hundreds of passengers were waiting to take off. The plane was a mere 59 feet from the ground before breaking off the attempt, noted the NTSB report released on Wednesday.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time that Air Canada Flight 759, inbound from Toronto and carrying 135 passengers and five crew members, was supposed to land on Runway 28R but mistakenly lined up on nearby Taxiway C. The plane aborted the landing and circled the airport at the urging of the airport's control tower and landed safely.

According to the NTSB report, both Air Canada pilots believed the lighted runway on their left was 28L and that they were lined up for 28R before being ordered to execute a "go around." They also told NTSB investigators that they did not recall seeing aircraft on taxiway C but "that something did not look right to them."

The NTSB report said Runway 28L's approach and runway lights were actually turned off because it was closed to accommodate construction.

"We're talking less than a second from disaster," Ross Aimer, a retired airline captain and CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, told CBS News. Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation, The Associated Press reported.

The AP said the captain, who was flying the plane, had more than 20,000 hours of flying time while and the co-pilot had roughly 10,000 hours.

The NTSB said Wednesday's investigative update did not provide probable cause for the incident and does not contain analysis of information collected so in its ongoing investigation. The board stated that no conclusions should be made from the report.

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Air Canada's near miss at San Francisco International Airport on July 7 was well within 100 feet, a report from the National Transportation Safety Board said. One expert said the errant jet was just one second away from disaster.
air canada, near, miss, ntsb
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2017-11-04
Friday, 04 August 2017 08:11 AM
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