US aviation authorities are investigating a near miss at a San Francisco airport after an Air Canada plane almost landed on a crowded taxiway rather than the runway.

The Air Canada Airbus 320 was cleared to land at a runway at San Francisco international airport late on Friday. The pilot, however, inadvertently began descending toward one of the taxiways, where four airplanes laden with passengers and fuel sat waiting for permission to take off, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. Audio of the conversations between air traffic control and pilots, posted on the Live ATC website, captured the confusion. The Air Canada pilot can be heard asking if he’s clear to land, given that he can see other lights on the runway. He’s told there are no other planes on the runway.

Another voice chimes in, sounding the alarm over Air Canada’s trajectory: “Where’s this guy going? He’s on the taxiway.” The pilot was immediately instructed to pull up, circle around and approach the landing again. “It looks like you were lined up for Charlie [Taxiway C] there,” the air traffic controller told the pilot. The taxiway sits parallel to the runway. A United Airlines pilot then weighed in: “United One, Air Canada just flew directly over us.” The air controller responded: “Yeah, I saw that, guys.”(theguardian)…[+]