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Alaska Airlines Flight Aborts Landing at SFO After Pilot Spots Aircraft on Runway
An Alaska Airlines flight from SFO was forced to pull up and circle after its pilot saw another aircraft taxiing near the arrival runway. The aborted landing is now expected to face FAA and NTSB scrutiny, reviving concerns about safety at one of the nation's busiest and most studied airports.
An Alaska Airlines flight was forced to abort its landing at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday after the pilot reported seeing another aircraft on the runway she had been cleared to use, according to the airline and federal aviation data.
The incident involved Alaska Flight 528. Passengers described a sudden, jarring maneuver as the plane pulled out of its descent.
"It wasn't a gentle motion. It wasn't like we came down, and then gently went up. We were coming down, and then the up was a bit of a jerk," said Jake Milstein, a passenger on the flight.
Over the cabin intercom, the pilot explained the decision.
"There was an airplane that was taxiing across the end of the runway that was questionable, in terms of the proximity to our arrival runway," the pilot told passengers.
"We thought the best course of action was the safest one, and we'll come back around and do it again," the pilot added.
Milstein said the cabin reacted with confusion. "And everybody looked at each other on the plane like, what's happening here," he said.
Such aborted landings, known as go-arounds, occur in roughly one to three out of every 1,000 flights, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. Pilots often execute them dramatically to avoid potential collisions.
SFO is one of the most closely studied airports for such incidents because its parallel runways handle more than 1,000 flights daily.
The situation drew immediate comparisons to past close calls at SFO, including a 2017 incident in which an Air Canada Airbus 320 mistakenly began landing on a taxiway instead of a parallel runway, coming within 60 feet of ground traffic before the crew pulled up. Experts noted that safety systems, such as pilot-initiated go-arounds, are designed to prevent tragedies in congested airspace.
"It's a congested airspace. There's a lot of planes going in and out of the airport, so everyone has to pay attention to what they're doing," said Bay Area aviation expert Mike McCarron.
Like previous near-misses â including a 2023 incident involving a FedEx flight and a Southwest Airlines jet â this event is expected to face scrutiny and investigation from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
"That is technically an aircraft on a runway, so they have to figure out, was it just slow moving? Was the controller getting the planes too tight, and they'll do an investigation," McCarron said.
As in the 2017 incident, the pilot â rather than an air traffic controller â spotted the issue and initiated the abort.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 showed two airplanes had landed on the same runway ahead of the Alaska flight, indicating both were off the runway though still nearby.
"It was scary. You know, I fly a lot, and I fly in the Bay Area a lot, and that is not something that has ever happened," Milstein said. "Clearly, there was some error there, and I'm very thankful for the Alaska Airlines pilot for recognizing a dangerous situation."
Authorities have not yet determined the exact level of risk involved, a detail expected to emerge from upcoming safety investigations. A spokesperson for SFO declined to comment, and representatives from Alaska Airlines and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.