PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - SWA lands at wrong airport.
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Old 13th Jan 2014, 04:29
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Airbubba
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Rockytop, Tennessee, USA
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On my GA glass panel (G1000), it throws up a depiction of the runway, it would be terribly obvious if I was aligning at the wrong airport, this type up technology should be easily introduced to transport aircraft.
Likewise, my car has an inexpensive GPS, it would be obvious if I turned on the wrong street. But many airliners still don't have GPS and some companies have turned GPS off in these new fangled electronic flight kits because they are afraid the pilots might use it to crosscheck their position in the air or on the ground.

Some current planes have ADS-B installed with its own GPS that gives the folks on the ground your exact position but doesn't display it to the pilots.

Also, some airline primary flight displays have heading up, others have track up. The planes with track up don't match what you see out the window, so with a crosswind you have to rotate things in your mind.

I've sure looked at the wrong piece of pavement before but like most of us have always been able to resolve any discrepancy prior to landing. Apparently the folks who recently landed the Boeing Dreamlifter at the wrong airport in Wichita felt that the picture displayed on their PFD's was incorrect and that they were looking at the correct runway.

I can imagine that there will be a couple of vacancies soon at LUV.
As long as the CVR doesn't have them talking about fatigue and commuting I think they will be OK. At least we all know what will be in CQ training in 2015.
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