How do you land at the wrong airport?

[FN FAL]

Read this in an article about Northwest from Answers.com

"In 2004, pilots on a Northwest Airlines flight mistakenly landed at Ellsworth AFB instead of at the Rapid City airport. Passengers aboard were asked to close their window shades by the US Air Force."

How is this possible?

The Northwest Captain saw someone at Ellsworth hot fueling and urgently needed to tell that captain about it?

 

[Metro752]

Easy there Ace. There are three "stupid" things that better and more experienced pilots than you or me have inadvertantly done:

1. Landed gear up.
2. Landed at the wrong airport.
3. Landed on the wrong runway.

You've alway got to keep on your toes and never let your guard down, even for a moment, or it can and will happen to you. In 39 years it's never happened to me (knock on wood) but it hasn't been for my lack of trying.

'Sled

Well now that you all put it into more perspective, I do see how they can easily make a mistake, and I pray I don't ever have any trouble.

I guess to make slight of this "whoopsie" we can just blame it on the Scarebus.

 

[uh60james]

Why did the AF have the passengers close their shades? I doubt theres anything really top secret they could see from an airliner, nontheless when their too busy being POed that they landed at the wrong airport.

For some reason the AF seems to think that there installations are top secret, lol. I am stationed at Ft Bragg NC and I work at Simmons AAF. Pope AFB is next door and do those guys freak when they see a camera. Nothing special at Pope either, I could take pictures of it from the air all day if I wanted.