Air Canada plane narrowly missed landing on taxiway at San Francisco airport
'Where is this guy going? They’re on the taxiway.'
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Your support makes all the difference.The moment that an Air Canada jet narrowly missed four planes on the runway as it came in to land at San Francisco airport was captured on camera.
Newly released footage from the US National Transportation Safety Board shows Flight 759 descending towards the other aircraft which were waiting for take off clearance.
The incident took place on 7 July 2017 but the footage was made public in a series of documents released as part of its investigation into the incident.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the Air Canada airliner was given clearance to land in San Francisco airport but the aircraft lined up to land on a parallel taxiway to the runway where it was meant to land.
Pilots pulled the plane up again at just 18 metres above the ground to try another landing.
The investigation continues into the incident which one aviation expert, Retired United Airlines captain Ross Aimer and CEO of Aero Consulting Experts, has previously said could have been the “greatest aviation disaster in history”.
In audio recording previously released, air traffic controllers can be heard communicating with the Air Canada pilots moments before the near-disaster, and the pilots ask the controllers if they are ok to land.
They are told the runway is clear and that there “is no one but you”.
Moments later, an unknown voice says, “Where is this guy going? They’re on the taxiway.”
The pilots are then told to “go around”.
At this point, close to the ground, the pilot dramatically pulls the plane back up to the sky.
A United Airlines pilot then told the control tower: "Air Canada flew right over us."
The pilot and co-pilot were very experienced with more than 30,000 flying hours between them.
Flight 759, carrying 140 passengers and crew, was reportedly so far off course as it approached the airport that it was missed by the radar system which is used to prevent runway collisions.
The documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board include reports on the operations, human performance, air traffic control and the flight data recorder.
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