An Alaskan Airlines Airliner Mistakes A Center Taxiway For A Runway And Completes A Landing

The event actually took place earlier this month on December 19, but was just recently reported. While this mistake could have been disastrous if other aircraft had been using the taxiway, the taxiway was clear at the time and the landing was safely completed.

According to a report in USA Today, while on final approach for landing at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the airliner was originally expecting to land on runway 16 Right (16R). It’s reported the tower changed the clearance for the aircraft to land on a runway 16 Left (16L) and the report indicates the pilot accepted the clearance.

The change in clearance required the pilot change course to the left which would mean shifting across runways 16 Center (16C) and a parallel taxiway in order to line up on 16L. The error appeared to be that the pilot did not adjust course to the left sufficiently and mistook the parallel taxiway for runway 16L.

Upon reviewing the instrument approach charts for Sea-Tac airport, there is a warning specific to this situation when landing to the south. The warning states that the parallel taxiway can be mistaken for the wrong runway and that pilots are to take caution to avoid this.

Other clues that pilots are familiar with to distinguish between runways and taxiways are that runway markings are painted white,while taxiway markings are painted yellow. The lighting systems are also different in that runway lights are white, and taxiway lights are blue. While the this taxiway is referred to as taxiway T, which is spoken as the word “Tango,” there is no visible marking on the taxiway to indicate its identification that can be seen in flight. Runways are clearly marked with the runway numbers painted at each end of the runway.

Needless to say, everyone involved is looking for a way to avoid this happening again.

(Image from City of Seattle website)

FMI: www.faa.org