British plane narrowly avoids disaster after landing on taxiway not runway

Updated


British holiday jet narrowly avoids disaster after landing on taxiway instead of runway
British holiday jet narrowly avoids disaster after landing on taxiway instead of runway

PA


A British passenger jet carrying 192 holidaymakers narrowly avoided disaster after landing at the wrong part of an airport in Cyprus.

The Thomson Airways plane, which was flying from Doncaster to Paphos, landed on a taxiway after mistaking it for a runway.

Fortunately there were no other planes taxiing at the time, which meant the Boeing 737 luckily avoided a potentially deadly crash situation.

The incident has fuelled heated debates on a respected pilots forum, with some calling it 'very poor airmanship', and others describing the airport as confusing.

According to the Daily Mail, one person wrote: 'The taxiway is longer than the runway, the same width and quite a lot brighter as it's not covered in rubber.

'Also... the landing runway is closer to the passenger terminal than the taxiway; in most places the parallel taxiway or emergency runway are closer to the civilian apron.'

A spokesman from Hermes Airports said the incident was a 'big issue' and was being investigated by the 'relevant authorities'.

Thomson said in a statement: 'Thomson Airways can confirm that flight TOM 3350 from Doncaster to Paphos , Cyprus, landed on a parallel taxiway rather than the runway allocated for the landing on Wednesday, September 21.

'The Boeing 737 - 800 departed from Doncaster airport at 10.07 (UK time) and arrived in Paphos at 3.31pm (Cyprus local time).

'No customers were aware of the incident, the aircraft landed normally and no one was injured. No damage was caused to the aircraft and all customers were calm and in good spirits when disembarking the aircraft.'

The company added that it 'maintains its aircraft to the highest standards and has an excellent safety record,' reassuring customers that incidents like this 'are extremely rare and that their safety is our first priority at all times'.

It is also carrying out a 'full and thorough' investigation.


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