On March 11, 2013, an Air Canada Embraer ERJ-190 en route from Edmonton to Toronto,ON was on approach when ATC informed the pilots to abort the landing. Ground radar indicated something moving on the runway. Pilots continued to make the landing, and ignored ATC.
Mechanics working on a Sunwing Boeing had left a van running and in gear, which subsequently rolled without a driver across the runway. At some point, the van impacted the Sunwing 737.
In George’s Point of View
While we can’t make assumptions, apparently the pilots saw the van safely flew over it and made a secure landing.
However, there are a lot of errors here that could have been disaster. We are glad no one was injured. Safety first, everyone!
- The maintenance crew for failing to secure their vehicle.
- ATC for not using the call sign, even if it was evident to them who they were speaking to.
- Pilots for ignoring ATC even if they saw the “threat” because there could have been an additional alert
That said, of course we are glad no one was injured.
Click Triangle below to hear audio
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