CO 757 Landed On Taxiway

Shades of SeaTac's infamous Taxiway Tango, except this time on the East Coast... Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration would like to know how the pilots of a Continental Airlines 757-200 mistook a narrow taxiway at Newark Liberty Airport last weekend, for the 150-foot wide runway that runs parallel to it.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports no one was injured when Flight 1883 from Orlando, FL with 163 people onboard landed on Taxiway Zulu Saturday night. The plane was cleared to land on runway 29, the shortest of Newark's three runways at 6,800 feet. The 75-foot-wide taxiway runs parallel to the runway on the north side.

Officials are "investigating it as a (possible) pilot deviation" from proper safety procedures, said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. The incident occurred at 6:31 pm EDT Saturday -- about a half hour after sunset.

Many say it was good fortune that no other vehicles were on the normally busy taxiway at the time of the incident.

"It could have been ugly, God forbid," said Russ Halleran, president of the local chapter of the National Air Traffic Controller's Association. "Pretty lucky. Overall, that's how we have to look at it."

"The controllers did everything correctly," Halleran noted, adding "they listened to the tape" of their communication with the airliner.

It is unclear if the pilots alerted the tower to the error. The plane proceeded to the terminal as normal following the incident.

"We are conducting a review of the landing to determine how it occurred," Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark said. "The pilots have been temporarily removed from flying duties and are assisting the company in analyzing the incident."

"We have a very strong focus on safety," Clark added, "and plan to use any findings to help avoid a reoccurrence in the future."

FMI: www.continental.com