29 Nov Delta Air Lines flight 2196 nearly landed on occupied taxiway
A Delta MD-88 is ordered to go around after inadvertently lining up with an occupied taxiway.
Summary
On November 29, 2017, Delta Flight 2196 was cleared to land at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport but mistakenly aligned with a parallel taxiway. A sharp-eyed tower controller noticed the error and ordered an immediate go-around just as the aircraft was descending over other taxiing planes. The flight was successfully re-sequenced and landed safely on a different runway shortly after.
Analysis
This incident highlights one of the most dangerous errors in terminal operations: the taxiway landing alignment. Delta Flight 2196, a McDonnell Douglas MD-88, was on approach to Runway 9L at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Due to the parallel nature of the runways and taxiways, and potentially influenced by lighting or pilot fatigue, the crew mistakenly lined up their approach with Taxiway November instead of the runway.
The recording captures the critical moment of intervention. While the controller is busy managing ground traffic—specifically Delta 1973 and Delta 331, who were actually on the taxiway system—he identifies that Delta 2196 is not where it should be. The command "Delta 2196, go around" is issued firmly. The controller then provides the reason: "It looks like you were over the taxiway." This is a significant observation because, at a busy hub like Atlanta, taxiways are frequently occupied by aircraft waiting to take off or crossing to terminals; a landing there would likely result in a catastrophic collision.
The incident is notable for the controller's situational awareness. In the aftermath of the Air Canada 759 near-miss at San Francisco earlier that year, the aviation industry was on high alert for taxiway misalignments. By catching the error before the wheels touched down, the controller prevented a repeat of that near-disaster.
Following the go-around, the aircraft is handed back to Approach Control. Interestingly, the controllers decide to switch the aircraft to Runway 10 for its second attempt. This "change of scenery" is often used by ATC after a significant pilot error to break the "expectation bias" that may have led to the first mistake, ensuring the crew has a completely fresh mental model for the second approach. Technical instructions for the ILS (Instrument Landing System) frequency and speed reductions (170 knots) show the transition back to a standard, controlled environment.