[CedarDave]

- They'd have to miss the big white "26" painted on the end of the runway. I don't know whether that "26" is behind or in front of where they would turn onto the runway; and also, those numbers are more oriented toward pilots in the air, not sitting 8-10 feet off the ground in a cockpit right in front of them. Or perhaps the numbers were faded, or the concrete cracking rendered them hard to read.

Go to minute 4:05 of the tape in #880 above. I can not see the numbers "26" though the numbers "22" are very clear on the adjacent runway.

[NittanyLion]

I can not see the numbers "26" though the numbers "22" are very clear on the adjacent runway.

Yeah - the number isn't painted on the runway. Interesting...(not that other checks shouldn't have caught it.)

[dfwddr]

Go to minute 4:05 of the tape in #880 above. I can not see the numbers "26" though the numbers "22" are very clear on the adjacent runway.

I noticed the same thing.

White faded numbers on old concrete, in the dark, with wet surface. Drive down an old stretch of Interstate, under the same conditions, and it's sometimes hard to see the lane markings.

That said, there's a compass in the cockpit for a reason.