NW to FRA ... or BRU ...

[Seat 22C]

Years ago, there was a NW flight heading to FRA that inadvertantly landed at BRU. Was there ever a determination of what really happened? How the crew got that confused?

[LETS FLY]

HAHAHA :) I never heard that story. What a stupid crew. They have to be very dumb to land on a other airport. Only strange that the ATC didn't see anything.

[Avman]

I was not at work that day and it's a little hazy now but the story goes roughly like this. Somewhere between the USA and the UK the destination data was somehow inadvertently changed from EDDF to EBBR. Consequently we received the estimate from the adjacent unit with destination Brussels. Alarm bells rang since NW didn't operate into EBBR and this was a known trip number for EDDF. The adjacent unit was adament that the flight was proceeding to EBBR. Putting it down to an operational divertion we passed the data to Brussels ACC. When the flight came on our frequency it was given a vector, initial descent and the runway in use as 25L. Apart from the early descent which the crew (apparently) did not question, 25L was the expected runway in EDDF (Frankfurt). The flight was passed on to Brussels ACC and given the usual vectors for the ILS to runway 25L. The crew were unable to capture the ILS (having selected the EDDF 25L ILS frequency) and asked the approach controller to confirm the ILS frequency. They selected the given frequency and continued the approach - presumably unaware that the identifier was not that for EDDF's 25L. The story goes that the pax watched all this on the cabin monitors wondering why they were diverting to EBBR!!! [Did no one ask an F/A? Did an F/A not query this with the crew?] I too have never seen any official report. I have to admit that I would just love to hear the CVR transcript on this one!!! (I suppose it was wiped). Not the only such incident. I believe that roughly around the same period a biz jet bound for EGGW was wrongly processed by one ATC unit as going to EGLL. It wasn't until established on the ILS that the pilot asked why he was being diverted to EGLL and the penny dropped. I believe a goaround was executed and the flight went on to EGGW. Perhaps one of our UK ATC ppruners has more on that one.

[UmmphUmmph]

...and the crew were not helped by the fact that NONE of the various Brussels controllers identified themselves on the RT as "Brussels Approach" or "Brussels Radar" or "Brussels Tower" as is required by standard phraseology http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif

[DownIn3Green]

LetsFly

Grow Up.

[Avman]

.......and the fact that the American crew most probably failed to identify the stations they were calling!!! "Frankfurt Approach" or "Frankfurt Radar" or "Frankfurt Tower" may just have caught the Brussels controllers' attention. But, with no transcripts, we are speculating.

[eyeinthesky]

Apparently the flight crew only noticed the error on final when one of them, who had been to Frankfurt before, noticed that the colour of the runway was not the same (Concrete instead of asphalt or vice versa). By then it was decided to land and sort it out.

Incidentally, that's why we have to waste R/T time these days giving a/c routings on first contact.

[Night Rider]

There are only two kinds of pilot,

those who HAVE, and those who are GOING TO.


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