757 Lands on Taxiway at EWR & Pilots Bolt

[V1cutsrfun]

Agreed !!! Now, for some historical perspective....back in 1989-90 time frame...a B-737 went off the end of rwy 31 at LGA.

It went into the East river. After all the pax were taken care of, the Pam Am J/S'er offered his nearby crashpad to the cockpit crew. Now, the company knew where the pilots were....the ALPA folks knew where the pilots were...BUT...the NYC press didn't know where the pilots were.

...And that set it off....

Dramatic headlines, the DA threatening to press charges...even had a nearby Marriott bartender claim that the Captain of that airplane was in the Marriott bar drinking just a couple of hours before the crash....which the NYC press took off and ran with...even though, that crew had been on duty all day long, and not even near that hotel.

In the end, no charges were pressed, no retractions from the NYC newspapers, or the bartender....and both pilots still have their jobs.

Now, in this CAL situation, just because the flight crew didn't hang around long enough for the NY Post reported doesn't necessarily mean that they "bolted". No doubt CAL knows how to contact them as do their ALPA reps...thats really all that matters....isn't it?

Tejas

Nail on the Head, Tejas, your Comments like usual are on the money

Hats off to you

V1

 

[starchkr]

"Runway 2-9 is a little trickier than the others to land on," said Captain Thomas Heidenberger, a retired pilot who often flew into Newark. "There are no charted approaches -- in other words, an instrument landing system or a landing system guidance for that particular runway -- and the pilot has to visually look out of the cockpit to the runway and line themselves up with the runway."


HOLY $HIT, we are still supposed to be looking out the windows to line ourselves up with a runway??????????? I am glad that someone finally clued me in on that one.

First off, i know we all make mistakes, and i am in no way ragging on these two for messing up, buuuuut...wouldn't it make it MUCH easier to land on a runway if you didn't have to worry about confusing taxiway lights for runway lights? I would think that the lack of taxiway edge lights there would simply make you shoot for a landing between the only two sets of lights available, the runway edge lights...sounds simple enough. Hmmm, i don't know though, i have never flown into EWR so i really cannot pass any harsh judgement.

 

[Sniper Bob]

What was ceiling and visibility at the time of the incident?

 

[Fearless Tower]

Also if you have ever done a circle to 29 at night you know that the PAPI is on the right side of the runway where 99% of the time its on the left... The taxiway lights on ZULU are a great deal brighter that Rwy 29. There are no REILs or ODALS or anything to make the runway stand out. I know of many people including myself who have been intially fooled by the set up and rolled out on Taxiway Z in EWR, obviously in all cases it got fixed before anyone noticed.
The weather in EWR on Saturday was awful with winds gusting to 40+ and lots of windshear and the like.

Thanks for pointing that out Flatspin.....it's always easy for the Monday monring quarterbacks to read the news, look at a Jepp diagram and pass judgement without considering or understanding what those two guys were really seeing.

 

[FlyBunny]

Airspeed, altitude & brains, you've gotta have at least two.

Sadly, in your case, you have only two as well: Airspeed & Altitude!

Bunny

 

[Amish RakeFight]

What was ceiling and visibility at the time of the incident?

This was from another thread discussing the accident. I believe the CAL 757 touched down a little after 6 PM.

1. We landed at 17:20 and the sun was setting -- a beautiful sunset because of the thin overcast. So, I don't think the sun was in their eyes.

2. Visibility was probably 20+ miles.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Sadly, in your case, you have only two as well: Airspeed & Altitude!

Bunny

Well, judging from his posts compared to yours, I'm inclined to say that he does have brains.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Not exusing what happened, but EWR doesn't have any taxiway edge lighting. I don't think there are any other major US airports that can say that (but I'm not positive).

Combine that with a relatively challenging circling approach and I can certainly see how it could happen.

LGA Doesn't either. Just weak little sticks.

 

[Squanto]

What is going to happen to these guys? Those out there with a lot of Airline time, will the Union throw them under the bus? The FAA will pull them out for how long? A year or more.

Say a prayer for those guys, they need all the help they can get.

Rgs

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Me too. Six years flying in to EWR and only circled to 29 once.

If you can't do it, don't accept it...

 

[DoubleB]

Just when you thought you were tired of "Clear right" at every danged intersection!!

A good reminder to all of us why we clear EVERY intersection! Imagine if someone had pulled out in front of them.

 

[stratocoaster]

Why don't we wait until the investigation is complete before we all start the name calling. NObody will have their ticket pulled or lose their job over this.

Tejas

that's probably not true. the probationary f.o. may certainly lose his job over this.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Whoa!

Thank goodness the aircraft didn't land gear up with THREE pilots in the cockpit (Hey, "Fins Up", ask a VP-1 guy about that one!)...or run through a fence and into an intersection/gas station...or flip over and/or burn...or land at Ellsworth AFB by mistake...or, ah geez...you guys get the picture.

A screw-up under difficult circumstances.

The truth is...(wait for it)...their POI gave them permission to conduct a "test" to see if taxiways can be used to reduce congestion on the runways.

Two...Two...two threads in one!

I rule!

 

[no1pilot2000]

I guess two more pilot positions just became available at Continental airlines. Maybe the pilots became temporarily color blind. Remember, taxiway lights are blue and runway lights are white.

 

[Occam's Razor]

I guess two more pilot positions just became available at Continental airlines. Maybe the pilots became temporarily color blind. Remember, taxiway lights are blue and runway lights are white.

If there are lights...you've got the color key down pat. EWR has reflector "sticks" on the taxiway edges instead of lights. I say again...there are no taxiway edge lights at EWR.