Lighting A Factor In '06 Newark Taxiway Landing=0ANEWARK, N.J. (AP) =AF Pil= ot error and night lighting conditions caused a Continental Airlines jet to= miss its mark and land on a taxiway instead of a runway at Newark Liberty = International Airport in October 2006, according to a report released Tuesd= ay. =0A=0ANone of the 154 people on Flight 1883 from Orlando, Fla., was inj= ured when the plane landed on Taxiway Zulu instead of adjacent Runway 29. B= ut the image of an aircraft, weighing more than 200,000 pounds with a wings= pan of about 125 feet, landing on a narrow roadway used by cargo trucks was= alarming, and it spurred changes to landing procedures at the airport. =0A= =0AAviation experts say taxiway landings are rare. Taxiway Zulu is about 75= feet wide, or about half as wide as adjacent Runway 29, and is less than 1= 50 yards from an administration building used by the Port Authority of New = York and New Jersey. =0A=0AThe National Transportation Safety Board's repor= t concluded that "the flight crew's misidentification of the parallel taxiw= ay as the active runway" led to the mistake, but added that night lighting = conditions were a contributing factor. =0A=0AThe flight's first officer, wh= o was controlling the plane during the landing, told NTSB investigators he = had never landed a plane on Newark's Runway 29 before the incident. =0A=0AB= oth pilots -- who had a total of more than 30,000 hours of flight time betw= een them -- underwent retraining and returned to duty, according to Contine= ntal spokesman Dave Messing. =0A=0AThe flight had originally been cleared t= o land on Runway 22L, which runs northeast to southwest, but was rerouted t= o the east-west Runway 29, a standard landing procedure. =0A=0AWithin a mon= th of the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration approved Continenta= l to use a new computerized landing system on Runway 29 similar to the one = used for the airport's two main northeast-southwest runways. The carrier ha= d been pursuing approval before the missed runway incident. =0A=0A"Since th= e time of the incident, we have designed and implemented new approach proce= dures to Runway 29 to assist all crews in precisely navigating the circle a= nd landing on that runway," Messing said. =0A=0AThe lighting on the taxiway= and runway was inspected within minutes of the incident and found to be wo= rking normally, the report said. Six other aircraft made the same approach = within 10 minutes of the incident and each landed successfully on the runwa= y, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs t= he airport. =0A=0AHowever, the report did note that from the sky, the light= s on Taxiway Zulu appeared slightly brighter than the runway lights. =0A=0A= The report noted the distinct colors -- white lights on the center and side= s of the runway versus green lights on the taxiway centerline -- could be c= learly differentiated. =0A=0AAs a result of the incident, the Port Authorit= y increased the intensity of the runway lights and decreased the taxiway li= ghts. Those settings remain in effect, according to Port Authority spokesma= n Marc LaVorgna. =0A=0A"The runway was clearly identifiable and all the lig= hting met all federal regulations at the time of the incident," LaVorgna sa= id, adding: "After the incident we did slightly lower the brightness on the= taxiway lighting and increase the brightness on some of the runway lightin= g." =0A=0AA spokesmen for the FAA did not immediately comment on the report= . =0A=0A(=A9 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material = may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".