Definition
A landing or attempted landing made on the wrong runway, on a taxiway, or at the wrong airport. It includes both completed touchdowns and approaches continued to a low altitude before the error is recognized and a go-around is performed.
Plain English
Landing — or nearly landing — somewhere you weren't supposed to: the wrong runway, a taxiway, or even the wrong airport entirely.
Context Anchor
Seen during airport approach and landing, especially when checking that the airplane is lined up with the correct runway before touchdown.
Why Pilots Care
It raises the risk of runway incursions, collisions with other aircraft or vehicles, and loss of aircraft control.
Intuition Check
Do not read wrong surface landing as only meaning a rough or damaged surface. Here, wrong means the airplane is landing on the wrong place, even if that place looks smooth and usable.
Example Sentence 1
After lining up on what he thought was Runway 27, the pilot realized at 200 feet that he was approaching a parallel taxiway and went around to avoid a wrong surface landing.
Example Sentence 2
Night operations increase the chance of a wrong surface landing when lighting and markings are difficult to interpret from the air.