VIDEO: The NTSB released shocking black-and-white video from a SFO surveillance camera showing the moment when an Air Canada plane last July nearly landed on four fully loaded airplanes lined up on a taxiway. (Courtesy of NTSB)
CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing the video on your mobile device.
SAN FRANCISCO — The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a meeting next month to determine the probable cause of how an Air Canada jet liner nearly landed on a crowded SFO taxiway in what could have been one of the deadliest aviation disasters ever.
The board will also issue safety recommendations aimed at preventing similar close calls in the future.
The NTSB determined that Air Canada flight 759, an Airbus A320 was cleared to land on runway 28R at San Francisco International Airport on July 7, 2017, but the airplane instead lined up with parallel taxiway C, which had four fully loaded airplanes awaiting takeoff clearance. Investigators determined the Air Canada flight dropped to about 60 feet above the ground before aborting the landing.
The tail of the Philippine Airlines Airbus A340, which Air Canada flew over, stands at 55 feet, six inches, which means the planes could have come as close as five feet to each other. In the NTSB performance study, the NTSB estimated the distance between the two planes at about 13.5 feet.
The hearing will be Sept. 25 in the NTSB board room in Washington, D.C.
