China Airlines Flight Lands On The Wrong Runway At Busan Airport, Investigation Launched

Just half a year after a terrible accident at Busan Airport, another incident took place at the South Korean airport yesterday as a China Airlines flight from Taiwan landed on the wrong runway last night.

China Airlines flight CI186, arrived at Busan’s Gimhae International Airport from Taipei-Taoyuan, and was supposed to land on runway 18L but instead the pilots touched down on 18R.

It’s quite obvious why this is something that could have ended terribly if another aircraft had been blocking the runway at the same time.

According to Taiwan News this incident occurred during a live stream and gathered quite a bit of attention.

A China Airlines flight landed on the wrong runway upon arrival at Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.

The incident gained attention through former pilot and Taiwanese aerospace YouTuber James Wang (王天傑), per CNA. During a livestream, Wang said that China Airlines flight CI186, arriving at Gimhae International Airport from Taoyuan, was slated to land on runway 18L but instead landed on 18R.

Executive Director of the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board Lin Pei-da (林沛達) confirmed to CNA that China Airlines had filed a report. Since the mishap occurred in South Korea, it has territorial jurisdiction based on international investigation protocols.

The TTSB has contacted Korean authorities and will assist if South Korea launches an investigation. If the country chooses not to open a case, the TTSB will assume responsibility and initiate a probe.

Taiwan’s flag carrier said the plane did not comply with air traffic control instructions when landing. The airline has initiated an internal investigation to determine the exact cause of the mistake.

The return flight CI187 to Taoyuan, originally scheduled for Thursday, was canceled. China Airlines said the flight has been rescheduled for Friday due to the airport’s nighttime curfew. …

Over the years, we have reported on many such incidents, ranging from pilots landing mistakenly at the wrong airport and also on the wrong runways, in some cases even on a taxiway. It’s crazy and scary how often this happens. Maybe not often in relation to the tens of thousands of flights that take off and land every day, but definitely way too often for comfort.

Here is the Taiwanese live stream from yesterday if you want to follow it.

Thankfully, nothing happened here, but these pilots definitely have some explaining to do.

Conclusion

A China Airlines flight arriving in Busan, South Korea, ended up touching down on the wrong runway after a really bad mistake by the cockpit crew.

The incident is currently under investigation, and the outgoing flight had to be canceled as the crew and aircraft were detained by Korean authorities due to the investigation. They ended up missing the cutoff for the nighttime curfew, and all passengers had to be accommodated until the next day (today).

Passengers were definitely not happy about this. There is no excuse for this incident!

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