Transpacificflyer

I will await the Aviation Herald report. However, I do wish Air Canada would be more reassuring with its public statement.

"Air Canada flight AC759 from Toronto was preparing to land at SFO Friday night when the aircraft initiated a go-around. The aircraft landed normally without incident. We are still investigating the circumstances."

Not reassuring to me. No one wants to be part of a Pan Am- KLM Tenerife re-enactment. However, for some people the AC statement will suffice.

edit: Just listened to the ATC again, AC pilot did inquire as to the "runway" and this suggested he was unsure. That's the impression I have. An ATC person that was "listening" would have picked up on that uncertainty, although aside from reconfirming runway, I don't know what else ATC could do. Anyway, I will await Simon's reliable info.

After Burner

I was being lazy

It looks like less than 30 seconds between go around and overhead the taxiway. That would mean he was at about 300-400 feet. Pretty close to touchdown but lots of time to initiate the go around.

I'm inclined to believe the crew was sufficiently uncomfortable with the visual picture that there was zero chance they would have continued with the approach.

KenHamer

What could be more reassuring than "business as usual"?

After Burner

Thanks.

capedreamer

Wow.

As I briefly alluded to here, I was on AC759 on 7/7. After flying in from TXL via FRA and YYZ that day, I was super tired and eager to get home. The go-around annoyed me at the time, but I had no idea how dangerous the situation was. Now I have chills going down my spine.

What do you guys think? Will I ever hear from AC with anything like an apology?

KenHamer

Why would they ask the the tower about lights on the runway? Wouldn't that have been the time to abort?

Seems even the tower didn't realize something was amiss until the UA pilot complained. I don't know if they would have realized their mistake in time, but they had already made one serious mistake. And there's a long history of airline incidents as a result of a series of cascading errors.

Anything beyond what actually happened is just speculation.

After Burner

I've never heard of an airline apologizing for a go around.

KenHamer

If the past is any indication they will as much as possible pretend nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Mountain Explorer

This is really shocking. After the Asiana pilot error incident a few years ago, that airline was banned from SFO for 45 days. I think this is significantly more serious. I doubt it will happen, but a 6-month ban of Air Canada seems appropriate

After Burner

Right, if things don't look right, if there's any doubt, initiate the go around. He sure seems to have left it pretty late.

The other question I would ask is was he tracking the localizer? If he was, then why didn't he notice being off course? If he wasn't -- then why wasn't he?

And as you noted, the tower didn't notice he wasn't aligned with 28R. That's a bit surprising.

Transpacificflyer

Touché.

tracon

Don't forget AC in 2003 lined up to the runway in Vernon.

Of course this is an attention grabbing headline. I'm not sure if physics would allow for a collision with all 5 a/c that would have killed more people than Tenerife.

As for what happened.
The AC pilot suspected something wasn't right, the UA pilot and the controller knew something wasn't right. Appropriate action was taken.
An investigation will take place.
The runways and taxiways at SFO, like SEA are close together. This increases the chance of error. We don't know if localizer guidance was functioning that night.
Stuff like this happens a lot more than you nervous armchair investigators think. Unless you've sat in a cockpit on a dark night going into an airport full of bright lights, you may not fully appreciate what's happening.
One of the first rules of flying, don't land on a blue runway.

Mauibaby2008

I feel like this should never happen in 2017...

It is always in the back of my mind when taxiing on the runway that we will be hit by a landing aircraft. Glad that it's a real fear

tracon

If it makes you feel better, at major airports, runways aren't often used for taxiing on.

Mauibaby2008

Thanks .. but are most fears even rational?;-) ... my other anxiety is that the tail of the airplane will hit the ground when the plane is just getting off the ground, don't even know why or where this came from.. I easily fly 100k miles a year and have the dumbest fears when flying.

I am glad the pilot came to his senses and everything ended just fine.