United Airlines Boeing 777 Involved In Runway Incursion At Honolulu Airport
The aircraft was reportedly less than 1,200 feet away from another plane that arrived on an active runway.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating an incident involving a Boeing 777-200 operated by United Airlines arriving in Honolulu from Denver last month. While taxiing to the gate, the widebody jet reportedly crossed an active runway in front of another aircraft landing.
The near-miss incident also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct an investigation and introduce a formal safety review. The agency’s officials said the United 777 was instructed to hold by air traffic control but did not stop and continued to taxi past the runway.
Details of the incident
The 777, registered as N774UA, was performing United Airlines flight UAL348 from Denver International Airport on January 23rd. The aircraft landed safely at Honolulu International Airport on runway 4R and exited the runway at a speed of 27 knots onto taxiway K. The plane then crossed the hold short markers for Runways 8L-26R and 4L-22R on taxiway K, traveling at approximately 19 knots, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.
Less than 10 seconds before that moment, Kamaka Air flight 145, operated by a Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster, touched down on runway 4L, parallel to 4R. As it was completing its rollout, United 348 entered the runway area where 8L-26R and 4L-22R intersect with Taxiway K at a speed of 14 knots and vacated the runway area less than a minute later.
FlightRadar24.com noted that the physical size of the 777 was not represented by the Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data point, a surveillance technology that determines an aircraft’s position via satellite navigation. Because of this, the coordinates were taken from only a single point on the airframe, meaning some parts of the aircraft may have been on the runway for a longer period of time.
Recent trend of near misses
UAL348 was reportedly in the middle of runway 4L, while the Cessna cargo plane was slowing down from approximately 44 knots about 1,200 feet away. The Cessna 208 took an additional two seconds to decelerate to one knot before turning left onto taxiway E, then onto taxiway B, according to FlightRadar24.com. Both aircraft did not come into contact, and no injuries were reported.
The incident comes less than two weeks after a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 and a FedEx Boeing 767 came within 100 ft of one another at Austin-Bergstom International Airport. Another near-miss incident occurred last month at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport when an American Airlines Boeing 777 nearly collided with Delta Air Lines 737.
Taking action
In light of recent airline incidents, the FAA has ordered a safety team review of the US aviation system and will reportedly hold a safety summit next month. In a memo obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said the safety review team will examine the structure, culture, processes, systems, and integration of safety efforts of the country’s aerospace system.
“We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted,” Nolen said. “Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent. Now is the time to stare into the data and ask hard questions.”
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said last week in an interview that the board has opened investigations into 18 runway incursion incidents since 2013, including two from last summer that remains under investigation, according to Reuters.
Sources: FlightRadar24.com, Reuters, Reuters
