Pilots blamed in 2006 British Airways crunching of lights at MIA

Sep 29, 2008 (South Florida Sun-Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- BAIRY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Normally, it would be considered an extremely minor aviation incident. But when a British Airways Boeing 747 rolled too far down a runway in Miami, crunching two lights in December 2006, it made international news -- because British Prime Minister Tony Blair was on board.

Now, 21 months later, the National Transportation Safety Board has blamed the pilots of British Airways Flight 209, saying they failed to keep a close watch out their windows after landing on Runway 30 at Miami International Airport.

Contributing to the mishap was inadequate lighting to designate where the runway ends, the safety board said in a "probable cause" statement released on Monday

None of the 349 passengers or 19 crew members was injured. The plane flew back to London's Heathrow Airport on a regularly scheduled flight after a 50-minute delay.

Still, major news outlets from New York to Sydney, Australia, reported the incident. After flying to Miami, Blair reportedly stayed at the home of former Bee Gee Barry Gibb as part of a holiday excursion.

"There never a threat to safety to the passengers or the aircraft," John Lampl, British Airways spokesman, said Monday. "The pilot was being very cautious, stopped and, as it turned out, realized he had gone slightly too far."

After the jumbo jet made a normal landing at 6:14 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2006, the pilots were supposed to turn onto a taxiway, but didn't see it. Rather, they saw red lights in front of the jet and thought that was where they should turn off the runway, the safety board report said.

While continuing toward the lights, the jet rolled onto an overrun area and its landing gear broke two 12-inch high runway lights.

Ken Kaye can be reached at kkaye@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7911.

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