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Podcasts

Welcome to the Foundation’s podcast page. Below you will find interviews with safety experts from around the industry on a range of topics of interest to aviation safety professionals. New podcasts will be added as they are recorded. The views expressed in the podcasts are those of the speakers, and not necessarily those of the Foundation.

If you have a topic that you believe would be of interest to the aviation community, please get in touch with Vice President, Global Programs, Greg Marshall at marshall@flightsafety.org. Interviews can be conducted in-person at our head office or via Skype.

News, Runway Safety (approach and landing), Accident/Incident Investigation

Business Jet Lined Up with Occupied Taxiway

A Gulfstream GIV cleared to land on Runway 35 at Philadelphia International Airport instead lined up with an adjacent occupied taxiway before the pilot initiated a go-around about 0.1 mi (0.2 km) from the end of the taxiway, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report released today on the Aug. 10 incident.

The incident airplane, which was being operated on a Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135 (taxi and commuter — non–scheduled) flight, overflew four airliners (two Embraer ERJ-145s, an ERJ-175 and a Bombardier CRJ-700) on the taxiway during the go-around climb, and came within about 200 ft of the first airplane on the taxiway, NTSB said.

The incident occurred about 2050 local time on Friday, Aug. 10. The airplane, carrying seven passengers and crew, was being operated by Pegasus Elite Aviation as PEGJET Flight 19; it was on a visual approach and had been cleared to land on Runway 35. During the approach, the airplane aligned with the adjacent parallel Taxiway E. No one in the airplane was injured.

At the time of the approach, the Runway 35 runway end identifier lights and the precision approach path indicator lights were out of service, NTSB said.

On its website, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that wrong surface landings “are occurring at an alarming rate” of roughly one every other day. About 85 percent of those events involve general aviation aircraft, FAA said.

Last month, FAA sponsored a day-long conference to address wrong surface events, and the issue also is expected to be a topic at Flight Safety Foundation’s 71st annual International Air Safety Summit in Seattle Nov. 12–14.

NTSB also is investigating the July 7, 2017, near-miss at San Francisco International Airport in which an Air Canada Airbus A320, on a nighttime approach, mistakenly lined up with an occupied parallel taxiway. According to NTSB’s preliminary report, the incident aircraft descended to 59 ft above ground level before going around. NTSB plans to hold a board meeting Sept. 25 to determine the probable cause of the Air Canada incident.

FSF Editorial Staff. September 6, 2018

News, Runway Safety (approach and landing), Accident/Incident Investigation

NTSB Opens Docket in Air Canada Taxiway Overflight Incident

The image at top shows the configuration of Runways 28L and 28R, and Taxiway C at San Francisco International Airport. The “X” at the threshold of 28L indicates that runway was closed. The bottom image shows the four airliners that were lined up on Taxiway C as Air Canada Flight 759 approached. Source: NTSB

The U.S. National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) has opened a public docket as part of its investigation into a July 7, 2017, incident in which an Air Canada Airbus A320, on a nighttime approach to San Francisco International Airport, mistakenly lined up with an occupied taxiway instead of parallel Runway 28R. Air Canada Flight 759 descended below 100 ft above the ground before the flight crew initiated a go-around. NTSB said the go-around was initiated after the Air Canada jet overflew the first of four aircraft on Taxiway C.

The docket contains a security video that shows the A320 approaching the airport and then going around. Other material in the docket includes factual reports for operations, human performance, air traffic control, aircraft performance and the flight data recorder, as well as interview summaries, photographs and other materials.

“No conclusions about how or why the overflight occurred should be drawn from the information in the docket, as the investigation is ongoing,” NTSB said. “Analysis, findings, recommendations and probable cause determinations related to the incident will be issued by the NTSB at a later date.”

FSF Editorial Staff. May 3, 2018

News, Runway Safety (approach and landing), Accident/Incident Investigation

NTSB Investigating Approaching Airliner Lining Up With Taxiway at Atlanta

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a Nov. 29 incident in which a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-900ER on approach to Harstfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (KATL) was aligned with an occupied taxiway before the pilots initiated a go-around. According to incident information released Wednesday by NTSB, the 737, operating as Delta Flight 2196 from Indianapolis, did not overfly the aircraft on the taxiway during the go-around.

The inbound airplane was cleared to land, and was initially lined up, on runway 09R at KATL, but radar data indicate that within about one mile of the runway, the 737 began to deviate left of the approach course and subsequently aligned with taxiway N, NTSB said. A go-around was initiated after the airplane crossed the start of the taxiway. Daytime instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident, which occurred about 1106 local time.

NTSB said it was notified of the incident on Nov. 30 and interviewed the incident captain, who was the pilot monitoring, and the incident first officer, who was the pilot flying, on Dec. 4.

The incident flight crew told investigators that the airplane intercepted the glideslope clear of clouds, but that there was a cloud layer below. The first officer said that at about 300 ft above ground level (AGL) he saw that the airplane was slightly right of course, so he corrected to the left but overcorrected and the airplane deviated left of course. At the decision height of 200 ft AGL the localizer reached full-scale deflection on the instrument panel, the first officer reported.

The captain stated that he called for a go-around at the decision height because he did not have the airport environment or approach lights in sight. Both pilots said the captain called for a go-around before it was called for by air traffic control.

The flight crewmembers of the airplane on taxiway N told the NTSB that they saw the incident airplane briefly, in and out of the clouds, but that it did not overfly them nor did they recall hearing any engine noise from the plane.

FSF Editorial Staff. December 14, 2017

News, Runway Safety (approach and landing), Accident/Incident Investigation

NTSB Releases Update on Approach to SFO Taxiway Incident

The image at top shows the configuration of Runways 28L and 28R, and Taxiway C at San Francisco International Airport. The “X” at the threshold of 28L indicates that runway was closed. The bottom image shows the four airliners that were lined up on Taxiway C as Air Canada Flight 759 approached. Source: NTSB

The pilots of an Air Canada Airbus A320 that lined up to land on occupied Taxiway C at San Francisco International Airport instead of on parallel Runway 28R to which they were cleared told the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in post-incident interviews that they believed the lighted runway on their left was Runway 28L and that they were lined up for the proper runway. They also told investigators that they did not recall seeing aircraft on Taxiway C, “but that something did not look right to them,” NTSB said in an investigative update released Wednesday.

The investigative update does not provide probable cause for the incident and does not contain analysis of the information collected so far in NTSB’s investigation, the agency said. The incident aircraft got as low as 59 ft above ground level (AGL) before completing a successful go-around.

The July 7 incident involved Air Canada Flight 759 (AC 759) from Toronto to San Francisco. The captain, who had over 20,000 total flight hours, including nearly 4,800 as captain in an A320, was the pilot flying, and the co-pilot, who had about 10,000 total flight hours, was the pilot monitoring. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident.

At about 2356 local time, AC 759 was cleared to land on Runway 28R, but during the final 3 nm (6 km) of the approach, the airplane’s flightpath was lined up with the taxiway and maintained the runway heading. At the time, four airplanes were lined up on the taxiway awaiting takeoff clearance: United Flight 1 (UAL 1), a Boeing 787; Philippine Airlines Flight 115 (PAL 115), an A340; United Flight 863 (UAL 863), a 787; and United Flight 1118 (UAL 1118), a 737.

At the time of the incident, Runway 28L, which runs parallel to 28R on the opposite side of 28R from Taxiway C, was closed to accommodate construction, its approach and runway lights were turned off, and a 20.5-ft (6.3-m) wide flashing X was placed at the threshold. The construction project started in February, and notices to airmen had been issued to alert operators to the runway’s operational status.

About 0.7 nm (1.3 km) from the landing threshold and about 300 ft AGL, the flight crew contacted the air traffic control (ATC) tower, mentioned seeing lights on the runway and requested confirmation that they were cleared to land. About 10 seconds later, when AC 759 was about 0.3 nm (0.6 km) from the threshold, the local controller confirmed and re-cleared the flight to land on 28R.

The flight crew of UAL 1, the first airplane in the queue on Taxiway C, transmitted that AC 759 was lined up with the taxiway. The flight crew of the second plane in the queue, PAL 115, turned on their plane’s landing lights as AC 759 approached.

The AC 759 pilots advanced the thrust levers for a go-around when their airplane was over the taxiway and about 85 ft AGL, NTSB said. About 2.5 seconds after the thrust levers were advanced, the minimum altitude recorded on the flight data recorder was 59 ft AGL. The airplane had already begun to climb when ATC directed the pilots to go around.

The incident was reported to NTSB on July 9. The incident airplane’s cockpit voice recorder had been overwritten, so NTSB investigators do not have that data.

Normal staffing for the ATC tower on the midnight shift included two controllers, but on the evening of the incident, one controller was in the tower cab, and seven minutes before the incident, all positions in the tower were combined at the local controller position, NTSB said.

FSF Editorial Staff. August 3, 2017