Story highlights A plane mistakenly tried to land on a taxiway at San Francisco's airport in July

NTSB data shows the plane was only 59 feet off the ground at its lowest point

(CNN) An Air Canada Airbus A320 attempting to land last month in San Francisco very narrowly avoided hitting several other taxiing airliners, data released Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board shows.

As it approached San Francisco International Airport to land on July 7, Air Canada Flight 759 mistakenly lined up with a taxiway where four planes were waiting, instead of a runway. The captain of the Airbus A320 aborted the landing. Air Canada did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

The incident represents one of the most serious in recent memory and could have caused one of the worst air disasters in aviation history, according to air safety experts.

As Flight 759 passed over the first airliner, a United Airlines Boeing 787, the Air Canada crew aborted its landing. The crew commanded full power from the engines. At that point, it was just 85 feet above the ground.

Two and a half seconds later, the A320 dipped as low as 59 feet before climbing, according to NTSB data. For comparison, the height of the tail of a 787 is just shy of 56 feet.

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