California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says he was a passenger on an Air Canada jet that nearly landed on a taxiway where four other planes were sitting rather than the designated runway at San Francisco International Airport.
Federal officials are investigating why the pilot mistakenly made his approach toward the taxiway Friday night instead of the runway next to it.
Coverage of Air Canada on Globalnews.ca:
Jones says passengers were not told about the near-calamity after the plane landed safely.
Instead, he says the pilot told the 140 passengers on board that there was more traffic than usual and everything was fine.
READ MORE: San Francisco’s ‘tricky’ airport could be factor in Air Canada’s near collision: expert
Jones says he knew something was wrong because as the jetliner descended, the engines revved and the plane climbed.
Jones, who called the incident “a little disturbing,” was returning from a conference of insurance regulators.