Continental Airlines Flight 1883
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Continental Airlines Flight 1883 was a
Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...
that mistakenly landed on a
taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...
at Newark Liberty International Airport on the evening of October 28, 2006. 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 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
to reevaluate and modify air and ground safety procedures at and around Newark Airport.


Aircraft and flight information

Continental Airlines Flight 1883 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight to Newark from Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida. On October 28, 2006, the flight was operated using a Boeing 757-224, a
narrow-body A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with mu ...
twin-engine A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. Fuel efficien ...
jet airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...
(registration number ''N17105''). Flight 1883 had 148 passengers and 6 crew on board. The first officer was flying the aircraft for the approach to Newark; it was his first time landing at Newark on runway 29.


Incident

Flight 1883 approached Newark from the north, initially planning to land on runway 22L using an ILS
instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...
. As the flight descended to an altitude of about ,
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
lers instructed Flight 1883 to circle to land on runway 29. This required descending toward runway 22L, followed by a low altitude circling maneuver that required a right turn at only to line up for runway 29. As the flight crew descended and turned toward the airport, they observed four white path indicator lights, which they believed were located to the left of the runway. This was incorrect; the instrument procedures for Newark described these indicator lights as being to the right of the runway. Keeping the indicator lights to their left, the pilots landed on wide taxiway Z at 18:31 EDT. The
Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...
jetliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...
, with a wingspan of , touched down at near the intersection of taxiways Z and R, rolled out and came to a stop without incident. The aircraft 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 wide and long.


Investigation

The incident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). As part of its investigation, the NTSB conducted a flight around the airport, to evaluate the lighting and visibility of the runways and taxiways. With the lighting of runway 29 and the taxiway set to the same brightness levels used during the incident, the NTSB noted that the lights for taxiway Z appeared slightly brighter than the lights for runway 29. During testing, however, the difference in lighting color (green centerline lights used on Z to indicate a taxiway, white centerline lights used on 29 to indicate a runway) was clearly visible to planes on approach. In its final report, the NTSB described the probable cause of the incident as:


Aftermath

This rare event caused a reassessment of differential runway and taxiway lighting, as well as arrival procedures at Newark airport. 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. 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. Both pilots were grounded by the airline after the incident but were returned to duty after retraining. N17105 was later transferred to United Airlines in 2010, following their merger with Continental. It is still in service with United as of January 2023.


See also

*
List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft This list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft includes notable events that have a corresponding Wikipedia article. Entries in this list involve passenger or cargo aircraft that are operating commercially and meet this list ...
*
Air Canada Flight 759 On July 7, 2017, an Airbus A320-211 operating as Air Canada Flight 759 was nearly involved in an accident at San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, United States. The flight, which originated at Toronto Pearson I ...
, a similar incident that took place in July 2017


References


External links


GoogleMaps aerial view of runway 29 and taxiway Z

NASA ASRS Report describing taxiway incident
{{United Continental Holdings Continental Airlines 1883 2006 in New Jersey Airliner accidents and incidents in New Jersey
1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2006 History of Newark, New Jersey October 2006 events in the United States Newark Liberty International Airport 21st century in Newark, New Jersey