Investigation Summary
The incident occurred during a circling maneuver to Runway 29 after the flight was initially cleared for an ILS approach to Runway 22L. At approximately 900 feet, the crew executed a right turn to align with Runway 29. During this transition, the pilots misidentified the airport lighting. They observed four white path indicator lights and believed they were to the left of the runway, whereas the official procedures for Newark placed these lights to the right of Runway 29. By keeping these lights to their left, the crew inadvertently aligned the aircraft with Taxiway Z. The NTSB later determined that while the taxiway's green centerline lights and the runway's white centerline lights were distinct, the taxiway lights appeared slightly brighter than the runway lights under the settings used that night, contributing to the confusion.
Final Conclusions
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the flight crew's misidentification of the parallel taxiway as the active runway. A contributing factor was the night lighting conditions which made the taxiway appear more prominent than the intended landing surface.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Had 13,200 hours as Pilot in Command (all aircraft); only 34 hours on the Boeing 757.
First Officer
Was the flying pilot during the approach; first time landing on Newark Runway 29.
Systems & Failure Modes
Airport Lighting
Runways use white centerline lights while taxiways use green centerline lights to help pilots differentiate surfaces at night.
PAPI/VASI
Visual path indicator lights used by the crew for alignment; the crew incorrectly believed these lights should be on their left for Runway 29.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft landed on Taxiway Z, which is only 75 feet wide, half the width of the intended Runway 29.
- 02The Boeing 757-224 involved had a wingspan of 124 feet, significantly wider than the taxiway it landed on.
- 03It was the First Officer's first time attempting a landing on Runway 29 at Newark.
- 04All airport lighting systems were confirmed to be operating normally at the time of the incident.
- 05The NTSB conducted a flight test following the incident and found taxiway lights appeared slightly brighter than runway lights at the same setting.
Safety Actions & Advisories
New Arrival Procedures
The FAA instituted two new arrival procedures (GIMEE 19-7-1 and GRITY 19-7-1A) to provide better navigational guidance to Runway 29.
Lighting Intensity Adjustment
Airport officials increased the difference between runway and taxiway lighting intensities to make them easier to distinguish at night.
Crew Retraining
Both pilots were temporarily grounded and required to undergo retraining before returning to flight duty.
Location
APPROXIMATE POSITION · AIRPORT LEVEL · Coordinates are the estimate published in the entered by an editor. The ring shows the accuracy the record supports, not the point of impact.