The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary findings on the July 7 near-miss incident at San Francisco Airport, showing a tragedy was even closer than first feared.

Air Canada flight 759 from Toronto was just meters from the ground when the pilot aborted the landing, federal investigators said.

The Air Canada jet, which was lined up over a crowded taxiway in error rather than the runway, had already passed over one jet awaiting take off before abruptly climbing. It was thought to be as low as 59 feet above ground before pulling up to attempt another landing, the NTSB said.

That is just a few feet higher than the top of an aircraft tail. The Air Canada pilots were both experienced. The captain had more than 20,000 hours of flying time, while the co-pilot had about 10,000 hours.

The pilots told NTSB investigators ‘they did not recall seeing aircraft but that something did not look right’. The report concluded that, for a few seconds, the Air Canada flight was too far off course for it to be picked up by airport’s radar system, which helps prevent possible collisions.

Air Canada declined to make a comment as the investigation is still ongoing.