NWA A319 Lands at Wrong Airport

[KC-10 Driver]

To fly an airplane with a FMS and a map on the ND this is inexcusable. Extremely poor airmanship. This is the problem I see with pilots relying on glass and believing everything it says. It will get them killed someday. I have seen the A320 join the wrong localizer, be 2 mlies off course on a vor approach, etc. BUY BOEING!!!!!

Yeah, this never could've happened in a Boeing airplane?!

Do you remember the Delta plane that landed at MacDill instead of Tampa? That was a Boeing -- or maybe Douglas -- definitely not Airbus.

 

[embpic]

I'd love to hear the crew conversation when they were trying to find the gate...

Think about it for a second. After clearing the runway you realize you are not at the right airport. Can you imagine what those guys were thinking. Their minds must have been racing. 'My career is over, how do I explain this to the passengers, what do I tell company' etc. It must have been one of the worst feelings of their lives. I agree that complacency was probably the major cause but I still feel bad for them. We all make mistakes from time to time but most of them go unoticed outside of the cockpit.

 

[FN FAL]

Think about it for a second. After clearing the runway you realize you are not at the right airport. Can you imagine what those guys were thinking?

Yea...where's the TOGA button on this tub of bolts?

 

[ss278]

About 30-odd years ago a 727 went into Salt Lake #2 by mistake. The field is aligned with SLC Int'l but about 10 miles south. #2 has been greatly improved since then, but at the time it was basically a 4000' rutted asphalt strip with grass growing through it and a small shack attended only during the day which served as an FBO.

The bird went in on a clear night and everyone was amazed the runway held. A small plane had landed just prior to the 727 and had activated the runway lights, which were not normally kept on. The 727 fortunatley stopped just prior to the end of the runway, taxied off and waited until help arrived.

Naturally the local media made a big deal out of it. The best part though was a couple of days later when they flew it out. United had stripped the interior to reduce weight and pumped out all the remaining fuel, save for enough to get airborne and fly the 10 miles or so to SLC. It was during the summer so about 4am they pulled it out to the end of the runway with a tug, literally backed it up to the fence, started the engines and roared on out. There was quite a crowd cheering them on, me included.

 

[MoGambo]

Continental at CRP (almost)

Same thing happened to Continental. The Crew mistakenly thought they were lined up for rwy 31 at Corpus Intl' (CRP). Actually landed at the Corpus Naval Aux Field -- Cabaniss rwy 31. Short rutted rwy lined with dilapidated hangars with lots of broken window panes. Field is used for student landing training for T-44, C-12, and T34s. Pax must of loved the view of the hangar -- "my bags are gonna be in there ?"

 

[crxpilot]

United Airlines DC 8 - Troutdale instead of PDX

A time back a United Airlines pilot mistook Troutdale for Portland International and landed a DC 8 there. United had a hard time getting that DC 8 out. They had to take out all the seats, most of the equipment, and had to remove buildings and other items off the end of the runway plus they had to remove almost all the fuel to get the weight down as far as they could.

 

[sweeper]

Yeah, this never could've happened in a Boeing airplane?!



UAL put a 757 down at the wrong airport in San Juan, Isla Grande not SJU...

It can happen in any airplane, and to any crew not paying attention.

 

[rstev1955]

Wrong Airport

I remember once when I was on the Tactical Air Command Inspector General Team we had just finished giving a base their inspection and the base flew the team back to Langley AFB in one of their large aircraft. Except...they landed at NAS Norfolk instead of Langley AFB...with the Inspector General on board.

It wasn't a great day for the crew.

 

[SMMustang]

Think about it for a second. After clearing the runway you realize you are not at the right airport. Can you imagine what those guys were thinking. Their minds must have been racing. 'My career is over, how do I explain this to the passengers, what do I tell company' etc. It must have been one of the worst feelings of their lives. I agree that complacency was probably the major cause but I still feel bad for them. We all make mistakes from time to time but most of them go unoticed outside of the cockpit.

If I was 50 I'd retire on the spot. We had a guy at NWA that landed at Brussles instead of Amsterdam if I remember correctly (or something like that-I'm sure someone knows the whole story) he retired on the spot. Company & Union wanted to bring him back, but he didn't want to deal with the fingerpointing and whatnot. I'd done the same thing.

 

[westbound]

Then there was the Continental crew that landed on a taxiway in DTW several years ago, when cleared to land on 21L sidestepped to the right and planted it on Whiskey. OOPS !!!!!!!