The FAA and Air Canada are investigating why the two pilots aboard an Air Canada flight ignored repeated calls from controllers at San Francisco tower to go around due to insufficient runway separation from another arrival. The incident occurred last Sunday night after the Air Canada Airbus A320 had previously been cleared to land on Runway 28 Right from a point on a six-mile final. Landing clearance is often based on separations controllers believe will exist when the next arrival crosses the landing threshold. But sometime things change and in this case the tower controller later believed that separation would not exist, hence the go-around call. Unfortunately, the Air Canada flight did not respond to any radio calls during the last six miles of flight.
Air Canada Flight Ignores Go-Around Calls at SFO
Key Takeaways:
- An Air Canada flight landed at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) despite repeated go-around instructions from air traffic control due to insufficient runway separation from another arrival.
- The pilots claimed radio problems, but investigators and experts question why they didn't notice the radio silence or attempt to use backup communication during the critical phase of flight.
- This incident is the second significant safety concern involving Air Canada at SFO in recent months, following a July event where another Air Canada crew mistakenly lined up for a taxiway instead of a runway.
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