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Oooooppps 
That could have been VERY ugly had there been any traffic there. Whoa.
That captain has flown his last flight for a 121 company. Good chance the F/O also.
If there would have been traffic on that taxi way, there probably could have been several hundred people dead. 
Thats too bad, this could very well end the flight crew career. Ive seen it happen though, in “slightly” different conditions though, A couple years ago we got a few inches of snow which is rare, the airport crew plowed the taxiway and as they were about to plow the runway a plane was on approach and landed on taxiway Alpha. I dont think they got in any trouble for it though.
I have a buddy that landed a metro in the grass after someone plowed the runway and covered one side of the runway lights.
That flight crew is done. They can always fly 135 but the airline gig is over
I can almost understand how this can happen during the daylight hours. Operative word is almost since taxiways don’t have large numbers painted at the end of them.
But at night, blue edge lights vs white runway edge lights is a huge hint what is what.
What’s even odder is having a pilot and copilot seeing the same thing? Be real interesting to hear the outcome on this incident.
Allen in a large turbojet you MUST use a LOC if there is one. that might have been their first clue. Second you’re right about the lights. these guys were in a hurry and missed a bunch.
On a side note if this had been a PA-31 or a C172 the FAA might not have even cared. But a Taxiway is not designed to take the impact of a 767 slamming onto it.
Yeah major screwup but the CO 1883 pilots that landed on the taxiway next to 29 at EWR a couple years ago did not get fired.
Maybe DL will look at the medical emergency, the long flight, the time of arrival and possible rest issues in Rio and give these guys another chance.
Question though, is this a relief pilot trip? 3 pilots in the cockpit or just 2?
that fight is less then 10 hours. And I don’t think it’s DL that’ll fire them. It’ll be FAA action
if he landed on taxiway N he could have a leg to stand on saying he saw the white runway lights from 27R and the white runway lights from 27L…
The Continental crew that landed on the taxiway at EWR last year is still flying. I’m guessing the union will go to bat for them and say that they were under “undue stress” and landed ASAP to save the pax from dying, and realized last second that they were going to land on a taxiway, and decided it was the most prudent choice for the health of the pax that they continue the landing.
This happened several times at SEA. Before 16R was built, 16C was known as 16R and airliners would land on taxiway T.
So was it “pilot error,” or something else.
At least they landed at the right airport.
It would have been better if they could have missed that airport and landed on the runway at another airport. 
lol, either way they wouldn’t be the first to make that mistake.
think about it, if there was traffic on the taxiway, they would have seen it and would have aborted the landing… There would not have been 100’s of people dead. Some are sounding like the media here.
I realize you’re attempting to make a point here but instead you’re way off target.
The wayward crew could have easily aligned with the taxiway, flared and touched down, only to have another fully laden aircraft turn onto the taxiway directly ahead of them under the direction of ground control.
It’s not overly dramatic to state that this mistake could have easily led to the death of hundreds in a ball of flame and molten aluminum and requires no hyperbole whatsoever to describe the possible outcome.
yes, after reading your post JHEM, i do see the ramifications of an empty taxiway and an aircraft turning onto said taxiway. Thanks for correcting my shortsightedness.