Boeing 757 similar to incident aircraft |
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| Incident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 28, 2006 |
| Type | Taxiway Landing |
| Site | Newark, New Jersey |
| Passengers | 148 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 154 (all) |
| Aircraft type | 757-224 |
| Operator | Continental Airlines |
| Tail number | N17105 |
| Flight origin | Orlando International Airport |
| Destination | Newark Liberty International Airport |
Continental Flight 1883 was a Boeing 757-224, registration N17105, on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Orlando, Florida to Newark, New Jersey, with 148 passengers and 6 crew on board, which mistakenly landed on a taxiway at Newark Liberty International Airport, on the evening of October 28, 2006.[1][2] There were no reported injuries or damage, but the narrowly-averted disaster was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, and caused the Federal Aviation Administration to reevaluate and modify air and ground safety procedures at and around Newark Airport.[3][4]
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Flight 1883 was cleared for the ILS 22L instrument approach, circle-to-land runway 29. This required descending southwest towards runway 22L, followed by a low altitude circling maneuver to land on runway 29 to the west. As the flight crew descended and turned toward the airport, they misidentified the runway and landed instead on 75 feet (23 m) wide taxiway Z at 1831 EDT, about 30 minutes after sunset. The Boeing 757 jetliner, with a wingspan of 155 feet (47 m), touched down at 130 knots (240 km/h) near the intersection of taxiways Z and R, rolled out and came to a stop without incident. It then taxied to the gate where all passengers were deplaned. According to the FAA, all lighting systems associated with runway 29 and taxiway Z were operating normally at the time. Runway 29, the intended landing runway, is 150 feet (46 m) wide and 6,800 feet (2,100 m) long.[3][4][5]
The incident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which as part of its investigation conducted a flight around the airport, to evaluate the lighting and visibility of the runways and taxiways.[3] In its final report, the NTSB issued the following Probable Cause statement:[1]
The flight crew's misidentification of the parallel taxiway as the active runway, resulting in the flight crew executing a landing on the taxiway. Contributing was the night lighting conditions
This rare event caused a reassessment of differential runway and taxiway lighting, as well as arrival procedures at Newark airport.[4][6] The NTSB noted in its report that as a result of the incident, the FAA instituted two types of changes in its procedures, in the air and on the ground, to reduce the chance of a recurrence.[1][3] In the air, the FAA added two new arrival procedures, GIMEE 19-7-1 and GRITY 19-7-1A, which it expects will provide improved navigational guidance to the runway under similar conditions. On the ground, the FAA and airport officials increased the difference between the lighting intensities of taxiways and runways, to enable pilots to better differentiate between them under low light conditions.[3][5]
Both pilots were grounded by the airline after the incident but were returned to duty after retraining.[4][5]
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