Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the circumstances that caused a Delta Air Lines flight from Rio de Janeiro to land on a taxiway instead of the prescribed runway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Tuesday the pilot of Delta 60 had declared a medical emergency just before landing in Atlanta at 6 a.m. Monday but even so should not have landed on the taxiway. She did not know the nature of the emergency. The Boeing 767 touched down on the taxiway running parallel and north of runway No. 27. No one was injured and there were no other aircraft on the taxiway, Bergen said. “The aircraft landed safely,” she said. “The FAA is investigating and looking at all aspects of the event? Our goal is to find out what happened and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” She said it was “very, very rare” for a plane to land on a taxiway rather than the runway. “None of us here, anecdotally, can remember this happening,” she said. A spokesman for Delta was not available for comment. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatigue, after such a long flight ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Amir 0 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 wow. lucky no planes taxing. any pictures? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaybin 0 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 That's skillful! Taxiway was narrow for a 767! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C.Foo 3 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 Maybe that's what Heathrow needs let the airplanes land on the taxiway, so there is no arguments over the 3rd runway Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 Well, at least they landed at the right airport. Much better than landing at the wrong airport! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teoh Z Yao 0 Report post Posted October 21, 2009 Sure this can happen when runway and taxiway markings have faded... I suspected some airplanes taking off from Changi and Dubai before due to the parallel runways... Haha... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tony 1 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 She said it was "very, very rare" for a plane to land on a taxiway rather than the runway. "None of us here, anecdotally, can remember this happening," she said. Hmm... Thought there was a case earlier this year where a Ryanair 737 landed on a taxiway somewhere in Europe? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 NTSB investigates active taxiway landing by Delta Four investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are examining circumstances surrounding the landings of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 on an active taxiway at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. Preliminary information received by the board indicates the incident occurred in 19 October at 6:05am EDT. The aircraft - N185DN - was operating as flight 60 from Rio de Janeiro to Atlanta. The aircraft landed on taxiway M after it was cleared to land on runway 27R. NTSB explains the taxiway is situated immediately to the north and parallel to runway 27R. Runway lights for 27R were illuminated, but the localizer approach lights for the runway were not turned on, says NTSB. At the time of the landing taxiway M was active but clear of aircraft and ground vehicles. Other conditions present at the time were calm winds with 10 miles of visibility, with night-dark conditions prevailing. NTSB says twilight conditions began at 7:20am EDT followed by official sunrise at 7:46am. No injuries were reported among the 182 passengers and 11 crewmembers onboard. Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/10/22/333830/ntsb-investigates-active-taxiway-landing-by-delta.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Idham 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) Is taxiway designed to take landing load? i don't think so. The aircraft was safe, but i'm pretty sure the taxiway is now suffering. Edited October 22, 2009 by Mohd Idham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flee 5 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I suspect that the taxiway is also more bumpy. So I wonder if the aircraft's landing gear was damaged. It was a good thing that there were no planes on the taxiway. Otherwise, we would have seen another fireball crash! My guess is that the flight crew were too tired after a long flight, and they are unfamiliar with the airport layout. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Idham 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 too tired after a long flight I dont think so, long flight got team A and team B...pilot should be fresh during take off and land..they have been trained in such condition. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teoh Z Yao 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 So, what's the emergency all about...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 U.S. airliner loses contact, overflies destination A Northwest Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 150 miles, officials said on Thursday. The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely on Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy." The NTSB said on Thursday it would review the plane's flight data and voice recorders and interview the pilots. Among other issues, investigators will explore crew fatigue to see if the pilots were tired, the NTSB said. Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta. Safety board investigations can take several months to complete. The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it lost radio contact between 8 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. EDT. Flight 188 was 150 miles off course by the time the crew re-established communications and requested permission to turn around, officials said. Airport police boarded the plane in Minneapolis to ensure there had not been a hijacking or other criminal activity, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport said. Military authorities were alerted during the incident and put fighter jets on stand-by status temporarily, the North American Aerospace Defence Command said. It was the second unusual incident involving a U.S. airliner this week. On Monday, a Delta Boeing 767 with 182 passengers landed on a taxiway instead of its assigned runway at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport. The taxiway, which was parallel to the runway, was active but cleared of ground traffic. (Reporting by John Crawley in Washington, Karen Jacobs in Atlanta and Andrew Stern in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) from here Heh, looks like any incident will be magnified for time being, as per normal practice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Heh, looks like any incident will be magnified for time being, as per normal practice Northwest had several incidents where they landed at the wrong airport. In 1995 they landed at Brussels thinking it was Frankfurt, and a few years ago one Northwest flight mistakenly landed at Ellsworth AFB instead of the civilian airport! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaybin 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2009 I could see some obvious reason, The runway 27R was significantly longer than 27L, and when view at low altitude, they may not able to spot 27L, mistakenly assume the taxiway as 27R. But still don't fully understand, at sunrise, the sun was from behind, there shouldn't be any mistake from the runway taxiway lighting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites