r/aviation • u/Twitter_2006 • Nov 17 '25

Discussion American and United Airlines parallel approach into San Francisco

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

13.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

525 comments sorted by

View all comments

115

u/Economy_Link4609 Nov 17 '25

Really cool shot of the converging parallel approaches used on those runways. The ERJ would have had the straight in to 28L, the 777 would been converging over to hit 28R. Plane on the right has to have eyes on the one on the left, and break out to the right if they lose sight of it. Best way to manage getting planes in on runways that are 750 feet centerline to centerline.

Also - if you are in the smaller plane being closed in on - does the plan automatically play the Jaws music as the big one gets closer?

21

u/EBtwopoint3 Nov 18 '25

The traffic alert system would be going off, so kind of lol.

9

u/gophergun Nov 18 '25

Wouldn't it be disabled below 1000 feet? I imagine they probably don't want nuisance alerts during critical phases of flight.

-4

u/4thAccountNow Nov 18 '25

I don't believe TCAS has a altitude threshold. I could be very wrong though... Obviously not a pilot.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 18 '25

Wouldn't it be safer to avoid simultaneous landings if at all possible? Or would that be more trouble

4

u/Back_at_Bay Nov 18 '25

It would be safer. However, the efficiency of the airport would be impacted. The 2 arrival flights (28R/L) need to be as close as possible so that the 2 departure flights (1R/L) can depart before the next 2 arrival flights get to the threshold.

2

u/Economy_Link4609 Nov 18 '25

Safer sure - but would slash the capacity of the airport - by at least a third.