PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Delta Flight lands at wrong airport on 7/7
Old 9th Jul 2016, 00:31
  #7 (permalink)  
pattern_is_full
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Denver
Posts: 1,226
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I do wonder what/why someone did not say this doesn't look right when the runway was 200 feet wide?
But also 15000 feet long. Proportionally, KRCA will look like the narrower smaller runway, until quite close in. (KRAP 14 is 8700 x 150).

No ILS for KRAP 14, so the approach was RNAV, VOR or visual. Approaches to KRAP 14 will place one on a short final to KRCA 13 as one flies past. One will see Ellsworth first, almost directly on the nose, nicely aligned, once on the approach.

Landing time was 20:42 local (MDT), or five minutes after start of civil twilight.

Interestingly, the plates for KRAP 14 are not placarded with a warning as to airport confusion (as are some in similar settings).

KRCA tower will definitely notice you are landing on their runway - but you are not on their frequency. How does that help?

KRAP tower probably doesn't start a stopwatch the moment you get landing clearance - but even if they did, by the time they noticed you were overdue or not in sight - you'd already be on the ground at KRCA.

Remember KRAP is a small, not terribly busy airport in the US - odds are probably good the crew was "cleared to land" almost as soon as they first contacted the tower. Not on 1-mile final.

Of course it is a screwup - but what steps would anyone here take to avoid it?
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