While go arounds happen all the time, here’s an interaction you don’t often hear…
United Express CRJ-700 blames go around on United 777
Airline Videos Live has both video and air traffic control communication of an unusual interaction that happened shortly after 12PM on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Specifically, a United Express Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by SkyWest was coming in to land after a short flight from Reno (RNO) as UA5899. At the last minute, the pilots performed a go around, which isn’t unusual as such.
As the plane was climbing out, the air traffic controller asked the pilots to share the reason for the go around (a standard question). One of the pilots responded “the 777’s tail was way over the line for 28L,” referring to a United 777-200ER that was queuing for takeoff on runway 28R. For those not familiar, runways have a “hold short line,” and if a plane is landing, every part of the runway needs to be clear, for obvious reasons.
However, in this case the air traffic controller immediately snapped back — “no, it absolutely is not, we can see it, but thanks for that report, contact departure 135.1.”
The United Express plane ended up coming back around for another landing, and touched down at 12:22PM, after a total flight time of 67 minutes.
That was quite the sassy interaction!
While pilots and air traffic controllers having disagreements is nothing new, this is quite unusual, given how authoritatively both parties express themselves:
- Pilots should always err on the side of caution, so if they see any potential conflicts, going around is the right course of action
- The air traffic controller sure snapped back right away, insisting that what the pilot was saying wasn’t true, because the tower also has a view of the runway, though admittedly from a different vantage point
It’s hard to know what exactly to make of this interaction, since none of us were there. The pilots of the United Express jet had no incentive to make up a fake reason for the go around, and at the same time, the air traffic controller presumably just responded with what he saw. So this is very much a “he said, he said” situation…
Bottom line
A United Express CRJ-700 performed a last minute go around while on approach to SFO. When the air traffic controller asked about the reason for the go around, the pilot responded it was because a 777’s tail was over the runway line. The air traffic controller quickly snapped back, and insisted that wasn’t the case, “but thanks for that report.”
What do you make of this SFO ATC interaction?
