Air Canada - Etterkom ikke go-around varsel

Foto: Air Canada

Air Canada jet ignores orders to abort landing at Pearson airport
What went wrong?. Officials are probing why an Air Canada jet ignored a warning from an air traffic controller to abort a landing when a van rolled across the runway. File photo

MISSISSAUGA -A driverless van rolled across an active runway at Pearson International Airport on Monday night, prompting an air traffic controller to warn the pilots of an incoming jet to abort their landing.

Now officials are probing how the van was left unattended and why the pilots of the arriving flight ignored the order from air traffic control to abandon their landing.

The drama unfolded just before midnight when ground radar alerted an air traffic controller to a "target" near the threshold of Runway 24 Right with an Air Canada jet from Edmonton just minutes from touch-down.

The controller twice instructed the pilots to abort their landing but the crew ignored the orders and proceeded to land.

The controller then watched on radar as the mystery target proceeded off the runway, across a taxiway and then into the grass on the southeast side of the airport.

"The tower controller requested an inspection and an unoccupied Sunwing Airlines van was found with the engine running, engaged in gear," according to a preliminary Transport Canada report.

Airport staff investigated and found that the driver of the van had been servicing a Sunwing aircraft at a nearby gate.

"The driver had come out of the aircraft to discover that the van was missing," the report said.

The van caused minor damage to the engine cowling of the Sunwing Boeing 737 aircraft as it began its driverless odyssey.

Asked later why they ignored the go-around commands, the Air Canada pilots told air traffic control they thought the order was for "someone else." However the report did say the crew saw nothing and landed without any problems.
Scott Armstrong, a spokesperson with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority which operates Pearson, said such incidents are rare but that an ongoing review would see "what lessons can be learned."

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are also conducting a preliminary probe with interviews of the air traffic controller and the flight crew.

"We're looking at everything involved with this. We're still in the initial data-gathering phase at this point," spokesman Chris Krepski said.

"We're assessing that information to determine whether we'll pursue a full investigation," he said.