Landing at CYYZ may be hazardous to your health

The picture is from an aircraft approaching Toronto's Pearson airport (CYYZ) from the east. You are cleared to land on 24 Right. But which runway is it? If you consult the airport diagram in the Canada Flight Supplement or even the more detailed diagram in the Canada Air Pilot, it shows two runways numbered 24L and 24R plus a number of narrower parallel taxiways. If you chose the light grey runway to the right of the one with black tire marks down the middle, you would have landed on a taxiway. And that is exactly what happened recently to two light GA aircraft that landed VFR at Pearson recently.

They approached the unfamiliar airport using visual references and mistook the widest appearing area on the right as a runway. In fact, it is a series of closely parallel taxiways in a sea of concrete. The less distinct runway way off to the left is 24L and the one with the tire marks down the centre is 24R.

If you are coming into any concrete jungle and in particular this deceiving configuration, use extreme caution.

If you have an ILS our VOR, use it for confirmation that you are lined up with the correct runway. Finally, if you do not see runway numbers as you approach, overshoot.

NAV CANADA is considering ways to reduce the possibility of being misled. In the meantime, be careful.