FlarePathAir-accident investigation intelligence

Investigation brief · generated 2026-10-09 · source: NTSB public docket and accident database

BOEING 737 — Seattle, WA, USA, 2015-12-19

NTSB number

DCA16IA036

Operator

ALASKA AIRLINES INC

Registration

N477AS

Highest injury

No injury

Regulation

Part 121

Damage

—

Cohort

Part 121 airline

Recorder data

Tier 1 — decoded recorder tables

Every sentence below is taken directly from NTSB records — the accident database, the docket's recorder reports and the Board's findings — with its source noted. Nothing is paraphrased or inferred.

NTSB summary

The flight crew inadvertently landed on a taxiway that ran parallel to the intended landing runway. About 5 miles from the runway and having been cleared to land on runway 16R, the tower controller asked if the flight would like to sidestep to runway 16C which had recently opened. The flight crew accepted and visually lined up with taxiway T, instead of the intended landing runway 16C. Although visual meteorological conditions were present, the sun was reflecting off taxiway T resulting in the flight crew visually focusing on it during landing. The flight crew and controller did not recognize the error until after landing.

Verbatim, NTSB aviation accident database (narratives.narr_accf).

Probable cause

the flight crew's misidentification of the taxiway as the landing runway.

Verbatim, NTSB determination.

Flight data recorder

Boeing 737-900, FDR File · N477AS — 417,640 samples, 14 parameters, 04:00:00.0 to 08:33:05.0.

Parameter	Max	at	Min	at	Final	at
Pressure altitude ft	36,022.0	07:17:44.3	321.0	04:15:22.1	403.0	08:33:04.8
Computed airspeed kts	325.0	04:29:39.1	45.0	04:04:11.6	45.0	08:33:04.8

Computed from the docket's tabular attachment; times as recorded (local or SRN as published).

Sequence of events (FDR factual report)

Time	Event	Page
0824:50 PST	The aircraft turned towards the airport	2
0829:09 PST	The aircraft made a slight course change and lined up with taxiway "T" at SEA	2
0831 PST	The airplane landed on taxiway "T" instead of the intended runway 16C	1

Extracted by claude-sonnet-5; 1 of 3 stated events verified against the raw recorder data.

Recorder documents in the docket

Group	Title	Pages	Type
fdr	FLIGHT DATA RECORDER - SPECIALIST'S FACTUAL REPORT	10	pdf
fdr	FLIGHT DATA RECORDER - SPECIALIST'S FACTUAL REPORT - ATTACHMENT 1 - TABULAR (ZIP/CSV)		zip

Docket: data.ntsb.gov/Docket/?NTSBNumber=DCA16IA036. This brief is an analytical aid assembled from public records; it is not an investigative finding.