Originally Posted by
dhuey
The initial NTSB report states that the giant, blinking "X" (i.e., runway closed) was right there for all pilots to see on 28L. Maybe that helps us understand the pilot's error, but I don't see how that could fairly be described as a contributing factor.
When interviewed, the pilots stated that they
thought Taxiway C was 28R (presumably for whatever reason they did not see the big red lit X but did see two lit "runways" and knew they were supposed to land on the right hand side one. If 28L had been open and lit as was 28R, they almost certainly would have lined up correctly - hence the runway closure was a contributing factor to the pilots' (mis)perception.