Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Seattle-Tacoma Int. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seattle, Washington 98188
Monday, January 19, 2004 11:38 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight crew was cleared by Seattle Center for a visual approach to Runway 16 Right. They contacted Seattle-Tacoma Tower when they were near Elliot Bay, and were cleared to land on Runway 16 Right, number two behind a 737 that was then touching down. Because of the distance between their position and the preceding 737, neither flight crew member saw the aircraft they were sequenced behind. The Captain, who was flying at the time, therefore aligned the aircraft with what he felt sure was Runway 16 Right. He then continued on the approach, and completed what to him seemed to be an uneventful landing. Soon after the aircraft touched down, the tower advised the flight crew that they had landed on Taxiway Tango. The Captain said that when they lined up on final approach, there was an overcast over the approach end of the runway (which was dry), bright sunshine to the south of the airport, and a glare on the runway surface. According to him, this caused the area around the approach end of the runway to appear as one dark color (shadow), making it hard to differentiate between Runway 16 Right and Taxiway Tango. He further stated that he had been into Seattle-Tacoma Airport many times before, and was aware of the large "X" just off the north end of Taxiway Tango. But, according to the Captain, because of the contrast between the runway glare and the dark area around the approach end, he did not notice that he had flown over the "X" just prior to touching down on the taxiway.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew's misidentification of the parallel taxiway as the active runway, resulting in the flight crew executing a landing on the taxiway. Factors include sun glare and shadows around the runway/taxiway environment, and visual illusions created by the airport surface environment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 1/19/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1138 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Seattle |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98188 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 472654N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1221836W |
| Event Location Airport | Seattle-Tacoma Int. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSEA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 433 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1156 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSEA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 433 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 35 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17633 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SEA Airport Operations |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 20 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 615 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-GTAQ |
| NTSB Number | SEA04IA035 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 180 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 41000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jazz Air Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 310 Goudey Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Halifax International Airport |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | B2T1E4 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Canada Jazz |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5520 Miller Rd |
| Operator City | Richmond, BC |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | CA |
| Operator Zip code | V7B1L9 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CYVR |
| Departure City | Vancouver, BC |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | CA |
| Departure Time | 1106 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KSEA |
| Destination City | Seattle |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16R |
| Runway Length | 9425 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |