Boeing 737-3H4 incident near Seattle, Washington, January 30, 2005
On January 30, 2005 at about 7:35 pm local time, a Boeing 737-3H4, registered N350SW, was involved in an incident near Seattle, Washington (Seattle-Tacoma Int. airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 46 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The flight crew's failure to maintain an adequate visual lookout while on final for a visual approach. Factors include the failure of both airport operations personnel and the local FAA Airports Inspector to insure that some form of identification marking was placed directly on the taxiway surface after the first seven misalignment events.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 30, 2005 · about 7:35 pm local time
- Place
- Seattle, Washington · Seattle-Tacoma Int. · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 46 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-3H4 · all 737-3H4s on the register
- Registration
- N350SW · no longer on the register · serial 24409
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The First Officer, who was the flying flight crew member during the approach, inadvertently aligned the aircraft with the paved surface of the parallel taxiway as he rolled out on final for a visual approach. He then continued the approach until he noticed the large yellow "X" just off the north end of the taxiway. At that point he realized that the surface that he intended to land on was not an operational runway, so he decided to initiate a go-around. After completing a successful go-around, the flight crew received vectors to a second visual approach final, whereupon they completed an uneventful full-stop landing. Although the FAA Control Tower had the Runway End Identifier Lights (REIL's) for both parallel runways on, the flight crew did not see them during this approach. When they came around for the second approach, the tower had turned on the sequencing approach flashers (rabbit), and it was at that time that they first saw the REIL's for either runway. Both flight crew members said that although the paved surfaces where wet and a little shiny (from an earlier shower), they felt it was the shape, size, and color of the taxiway surface that most directly contributed to the misidentification of the taxiway as a runway. This incident was the eighth in a series of known events wherein flight crews inadvertently aligned their aircraft with the subject taxiway with the intent to land on its surface. During three of these events the aircrews completed their landings on the taxiway surface. Although the airport operations personnel and the local FAA Airports Inspector are aware of this series of events, no markings or visual cues have been placed directly on the taxiway surface to assist crews in more easily identifying Taxiway Tango as a taxiway and not a runway.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 15,000 hours in all; 9,159 in this make and model; 262 in the last 90 days; 77 in the last 30 days; 8,000 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: September 6, 2004
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Pilot
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 51,686 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 29, 2005; 11 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 139,000 lb
- Seats: 145
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: General Electric CFM-56 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: KABQ Albuquerque NM at 4:40 pm
- Destination: KSEA Seattle WA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 16R, 9,426 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 200° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 9,000 ft; scat at 4,800 ft
- Temperature: 48°F (9°C), dew point 43°F (6°C)
- Altimeter: 30.37 inHg
- Observation at 7:56 pm from KSEA, 2 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 5 | |||
| Passengers | 41 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N350SW the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.