DELTAreallySUCKS.com

Things happen. But when they happen to the world’s largest airline, at the world’s busiest airport, it’s major news.

The National Transportation Safety Board says a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-300ER landed on an active taxiway October 19 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). There were 193 souls on board the big Boeing – 182 passengers and 11 crew members.

Flight 60, bound from Rio de Janeiro (GIG) to Atlanta, had been cleared to land on Runway 27R. That’s on the south end of the airport. Just north of 27R runs Taxiway M – and that’s where Delta 60 actually touched down.

What prompted the mistake? At this stage, no one knows for sure. But NTSB will no doubt look at what—if any--role the in-flight sickness of a check airman might have played. Check airmen ride along on flights from time to time to monitor the performance of the cockpit crew. This particular check airman took ill during the flight. Flight 60’s captain declared a medical emergency, and put the check airman back in the cabin.

The Safety Board will also look at the fact that while Runway 27R’s lights were turned on (it was 6:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time), the approach lights to that runway were not. Nor was the “localizer” turned on. It’s a navigation aid used in landing. Sunrise wasn’t until 7:46 a.m.

Thankfully, there weren’t any airplanes on Taxiway M, nor were there any ground vehicles. The presence of either could have proven catastrophic.

NTSB says there were no injuries to either crew or passengers.

No word on the health of the check airman, but in a prepared statement, Delta it is cooperating with the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB, and that “The pilots [of Flight 60] have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations.”

The issue of runway safety has been on the NTSB's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements since its inception in 1990. Information on the NTSB's work on runway safety is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/runways.htm.