Electrical short causes plane to land on taxiway at Pullman-Moscow airport

January 9, 2018 7:57 PM

Elena Gardner and Evan Ellis (Pullman Radio)

Posted: January 9, 2018 7:57 PM

Updated: May 14, 2021 1:44 PM

by Elena Gardner and Evan Ellis (Pullman Radio)

PULLMAN, Wash. — An electrical short caused a Horizon Airlines plane to miss the runway and land on the taxiway at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport.

Airport Manager Tony Bean reports that the incident occurred on December 29 with the 6:30 flight that night.

Flooding that evening shorted out the runway lights leaving only the taxiway lights on. The pilot apparently mistook the taxiway lights for the runway and landed safely in the wrong spot.

The taxiway is just as long as the runway but it’s 60 feet wide instead of a hundred feet wide. Airport officials didn’t know the lights had shorted out as they hadn’t conducted their nightly check by the time the flight arrived.

The pilot notified airport staff that the lights were out, which closed the airport for the rest of the evening. The runway lights were back on by noon the next day on December 30. Taxiway lights are a different color than the runway lights.

No word as to why the pilot still landed in the wrong spot. Horizon Airlines failed to return calls for further comment from Pullman Radio News.