Originally Posted by
Jet Jockey A4
Let us not forget that this was simply a missed approach followed by a normal landing by those two pilots (in their minds) regardless of what we now know to be the truth in how close to a disaster this could have been.
You need to read the NTSB interview with the tower controller. Here's an excerpt:
When ACA759 was about one-tenth of a mile on final, the airplane looked “extremely strange,” regarding its proximity to the aircraft on taxiway C, and the taxiway itself. It was then Mr. Delucchi made the decision to send ACA759 around. There was no indication that ACA759 was in the wrong place until the aircraft was on short final. About that time, he heard a second transmission on the frequency, which he assumed was from one of the three United Airlines pilots holding short of runway 28R on taxiway C, state “he’s lined up on the taxiway.” Mr. Delucchi assumed it was a United Airlines pilot because three of the four aircraft holding short of runway 28R were United Airlines, and one was Philippine Airlines. The pilot making the transmission did not have a foreign accent. After the second transmission, “he’s lined up on the taxiway,” he directed ACA759 to go around, assigned a runway heading, and instructed the pilot to contact NCT. He noted the callsign, type aircraft, and time for documentation purposes and directed ACA759 to contact NCT. He took a minute to relax and then started departing aircraft from runway 28R. ACA759 landed shortly thereafter without incident.
After ACA759 landed, the pilot asked for and was provided the telephone number for the tower’s unrecorded line. Mr. Delucchi was going to give him the number for the tower anyway. The pilot called a bit later and was concerned about the possible seriousness of the go around, and he sounded “shaken up. During the telephone conversation he was primarily attempting to calm the pilot down. They discussed the process of what happened. It was not a lengthy conversation, because he was still working ground traffic. Mr. Delucchi had calmed down between the time of the incident and the phone call with the pilot; he had not realized how close the aircraft had gotten to each other. Mr. Delucchi was slightly more concerned with how the pilot was taking it and did not want to “freak the guy out” since he seemed shaken.
(emphasis added)