New data, photos show near-miss at SF airport

Associated Press

Newly released data and photos show how shockingly low an Air Canada jet was when it pulled up to avoid crashing into planes waiting on a San Francisco International Airport taxiway last month.

The Air Canada pilots mistook the taxiway for the runway next to it and flew their jet to just 59 feet above ground before pulling up to attempt another landing, according to National Transportation Safety Board informationreleased Wednesday.

That’s barely taller than the four planes on the taxiway when the incident occurredJuly 7.

The Airport Surface Surveillance Capability system — which monitors incoming aircraft at SFO and 34 other airports across the country — is designed to sound a warning if an airplane is off course.No alarm sounded.

Pilots in a United Airlines plane alerted air traffic controllers about the off-course jet, while the crew of a Philippine Airlines jet behind it switched on their plane’s landing lights in an apparent last-ditch danger signal to AirCanada.

NTSB investigators said they have not determined probable cause for the incident that came within feet of becoming one of the worst disasters in aviation history.

The investigators said that as the Air Canada jet approached the taxiway just before midnight after a flight from Toronto, it was so far off course that it did not appear on the radar system used to preventrunway collisions.

Those systems were not designed to spot planes that are lined up to land on a taxiway — a rare occurrence. But the Federal Aviation Administration is working on modifications so they can, agency spokesman Ian Gregor said.