It happens occasionally. A few years ago Delta landed at Frankfort, Kentucky, instead of Lexington and MacDill Air Force Base instead of Tampa. Northwest landed at Brussels instead of Frankfurt. Saudia landed at a short military strip in the Indian city formerly known at Madras. There have been many other cases of mistaken airport identity.
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Posted on Thu, Jan. 15, 2004
Plane lands at wrong airport
Passengers bound for State College go to Philipsburg
By Anne Danahy
[email protected]
Patience was probably the most-needed virtue for passengers aboard a plane coming from Pittsburgh and bound for University Park Airport Friday.
The daily flight on a US Airways affiliate Shuttle America plane ended up landing at Mid-State Regional Airport in Rush Township -- close, but not the chosen destination.
"When the pilot walked in, he said, 'Here's one for the news,' " said Joanne Shields, business secretary at Mid-State Airport, which is near Philipsburg.
US Airways spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said the company did transport passengers from Philipsburg to State College on Friday. She referred all other questions to Shuttle America, which she said is one of six affiliated carriers in the US Airways Express network.
Despite several attempts over two days, no one from Shuttle America would comment on the flight, which is a daily route from Pittsburgh to State College.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the agency would not receive a report on such an incident. [huh?]
Shields said her understanding is the pilot wasn't familiar with the area and, when landing, somehow ended up flying in to Mid-State.
That airport handles mostly private planes, not commuter flights, so an unannounced landing is not unheard of, Shields said.
But not having radio communication was a little strange.
Shields said she and her husband were working and when they saw the plane pull in they tried to contact the pilot on the radio to see if assistance was needed.
But he must have had his radio set to a different frequency.
"We waited for (the pilot) to come in and see what they needed. They wouldn't allow any passengers to get off because of security reasons," Shields said.
The passengers had to wait on the plane at least an hour until a van could be dispatched from University Park to retrieve the passengers.
Eight passengers were on board, Shields said.
Shields said the pilot apparently made a phone call from the office to a flight service center.
"They faxed him page after page of things. I guess he had to report it as an incident of some sort," Shields said.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centr...al/7716354.htm