Chautauqua jet lands at the wrong airport!

[Buster the Bear]

A Canadair RJ that was bringing back the Notre Dame basketball team from Providence RI actually landed at Elkhart Municipal Airport instead of South Bend Regional Airport around 0130 on Wednesday. The two airports are about 12 miles apart. Towers for both airports were closed at the time.

Whoops!

[chiglet]

As a "BOF",
I can remember... Air France Overshooting/Going Around at least twice from EGCD/Woodford 3.5nm SouthEast of EGCC/Manchester, [separate occasions, of course] also a USAF F111 doing a low [50'] flyby at Manch...during the Woodford Air Display:rolleyes: :confused:
At EGBB/Birmingham Itl, "Cleared to land, r/w 33....actually landed at EGBE/Coventry r/w 24:confused:
Also a BA B747 "nearly" landed at a mil a/f instead of OPRN/Islamabad:rolleyes:
ALL these examples are "VISUAL" approaches :D
we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy

[Lu Zuckerman]

Back in the 1950s a twin engine transport CV240 / Martin 404 was about to land at Patrick Henry airport in Virginia. They asked to have the lights turned on and as requested they were turned on but not at Patrick Henry. The lights were at an army field a few miles away. This field was set up for L-19 and Beavers and some Army light twins. The runway was made of PSP (Pierced Steel Planking) and was not long enough for a large aircraft. The pilot landed and did not discover this fact until he overran the runway and got stuck in the mud. The passengers were off-loaded, as was their baggage. The aircraft was towed back to the PSP and was systematically stripped of all of the seats and internal fittings. The Army engineers got some expedited experience in laying down some extra PSP to accommodate the extended takeoff requirements. After a very stringent inspection of the Aircraft the FAA authorized a one-time flight to Patrick Henry airport.

:eek:

[Clipper811]

1981/1982, QF B747 on visual approach to KLAX almost lands at the Hughes Airfield, just to the north/north east of KLAX. Starts G/A on very short final and turns left coming within 100ft of a University Church tower on top of a 300ft bluff. Bluff nearly invisible at night. Called a QF S/O mate and relayed story, thought I was company knocking/exaggerating. Told him to check out the hill/bluff on next daylight arr @ LAX. Calls back a few months later; he's re-telling the tale inbound to LAX on a daylight arrival. F/O tells him, "that was me, look at that hill!" :eek:

[Niaga Dessip]

Norwich and RAF Coltishall are two fields close enough to have the occasional "mix up", usually a foreign visitor to Coltishall. I understand that a tie is presented to new members of the "where the hell am I?" club.:rolleyes:

ND

[Bof]

Lots of them in the late 50s into 60s. Several civil 707s landed at Changi(RAF) for Paya Lebar(Civ) R/Ws 20 at both airfields about 4 miles apart. Also RAF Comet 2 landed at Takali instead of Luqa on a line check by the boss of the Transport Examinimg Unit.
Neither Capt or Examiner aware until after landing!

[Brenoch]

A Saudi 747 landed at a small mil-field next to Chennai in the late 90:s. They had to send a team of engineers to lose enough weight on the a/c to get it airborne again.

[GotTheTshirt]

Dont forget the Pan Am at Northolt in stead of LHR !
- then they painted NO on the Northolt gasometer !:D :D

[Buster the Bear]

And I thought that planes had GPS, INS and maps. Those satellites must be way off course!

[pstevens1]

My grandfather landed his Hellcat on the wrong carrier in August '45. The crew on the Ticonderoga (wrong carrier) awarded him a medal for that feat. Flew back to Yorktown next day in absolute embarassment. :D

[RiverCity]

If the pilot decided to rely on visuals, he might not have known that you can't see **** coming into Michiana Regional (South Bend). There is a nearly constant cloud cover. I went to Notre Dame and the planes used to fly over us in the overcast and drop beneath it just in time to land.

[spudskier]

I've been told this story a few times...

back in the mid-1980s a 747 mistook Ohio State University airport (KOSU) for Port Columbus International (KCMH). OSU is RWY 27 L&R and CMH is 28 L&R, so close..... just 5000 feet less room at OSU... (longest rwy is 5004x100 with trees at either end)

I'm told the smoke from the brakes was something to see, as well as the departure a few days later after off-loading seats, etc...

[fatboy slim]

Just started operating into Hamburg EDDH and there is an Airbus strip (called Finkelwerter i think) at about 5 miles for RWY 05 virtually on the centerline and same QDM!! Confusing.

[AlanM]

....and at the Farnborough Airshow in 2000:

A B1 bomber flew from the US for a fly by - and called visual with radar at 5 miles. The weather was a bit poor and ended up flying through Blackbush!!

They must have thought it was a crap airshow when they saw a hundred or so light aircraft parked up!

Fortunately, the weather meant there was nothing in the circuit, as he went through at 500'

Scary!

[Few Cloudy]

Well actually, Buster hit the nail on the head when he talked about the nav facilities. Getting "Visual" on a field (unless it's on the end of an ILS) need a very good crosscheck from all available nav aids before action is taken. As FO on a DC-10 I had a heck of a job convincing Capt and FE that the field they had visual was actually quite a few miles south of the intended original Amman destination. Yet there was the DME still showing 40 to go.

[The Skylord]

BOAC put a Comet into the wrong Canadian airport (Dorval and Mirabelle I believe) - just took off again and hopped over the river to the correct one.

(BOAC tried to get the crew on gear cooling time but they swore they had flown across with the gear down!)

[Lu Zuckerman]

Mirabel was opened in 1976. Was the Comet still flying at that time? I was on the first plane to land at Mirabel on opening day and our plane was the last to land on opening day as there was 14” of snow on the ground and there was more on the way.

:)

[flite idol]

we`ve all joined the Fukawe tribe at some time or another. "WHERE THE FUKAWE!!!!!"

[The Skylord]

Lu - You are probably right. I did say "I Believe..."

However the basic story is true even if not Mirabel... I was told it by the F/O !! (now long retired)

[Max Angle]

Brings to mind the supposed RT exchange after one of these incidents.

ATC: Bigjet XX. Report your position

A/C: We have landed.

ATC: Not on my runway you havn't Sir!.

[PaperTiger]

Lu & Skylord, the 'wrong' Montreal airport was Cartierville. Happened more than once I believe, and since it was home to the Canadair factory it would have looked pretty much like a major airport what with the buildings and parked aircraft.

[pigboat]

Hence the acronym Been Over At Cartierville.:)
Eastern did the same thing with a nine, but they canned the crew. R28 was under repair, and had been NOTAMed closed.

[CAP509castaway]

I believe that a Dan Air aircraft landed at Langford Loch Airfield instead of Belfast Aldergrove in the 70's- similar runway layout.
:D :D :D

[An2]

Delta's evening flight from Atlanta to Daytona Beach, once took the wrong turn and ended up at Ormond Municipal (a couple of miles north of DAB) instead.
They had to strip that MD right down to the skin, with a minimum of fuel, to get it airborne again.
I was told it was a heck of a sight when it took off!:p

Another time, a Delta had to push the TO/GA in order to not make contact with International Speedway Blvd, which is parallell to DAB's 7L/25R. :o
...that one is unverified, though!

[LNAV-VNAV]

Skylord, Lu:

BOAC landed at Cartierville, (later Canadair plant; now closed) while on approach to Dorval. It invitingly appears at your 1 o'clock as you go by the FAF for 24R at CYUL.

That was a very long time ago; Mirabel was but a glint in a bureaucrat's eye.

[B767300ER]

Truthfully, gang, this kind of error could happen to ANYONE, especially at night, in the early morning hours or in an unfamiliar country/region.

It has happened before, and will happen again.
http://www.starmanauctions.com/twa.gif

[TropicalD]

Just curious if it actually was Chautauqua - they don't fly the Canadair RJ, only the Embrair RJ. Is there any other source of news for this?

TropicalD

[RatherBeFlying]

It is common for pilots in the US plains to alight at an airport uncertain of position. The drill is to buy gas and/or a snack and skulk around while looking for some sign of which airport has been blessed with their presence without giving amusement to the locals.

This conduct is not confined to pilots. A book on Polynesian sea navigation, The Voyaging Stars by David Lewis describes one occasion where some fishermen on a canoe were blown off course by a storm and were quite happy to find land. They hung about for several days until they overheard a children's chant which clued them in on where they had landed:D

[TRF4EVR]

An errant 727 wound up at Louisville Bowman runway 24 (KLOU, 4050 x 75 (?)) ) rather than Louisville Standiford runway 18 (KSDF, 11,000 x alot) in the late 70s. The aforementioned "lightening" drill was carried out and the three holer disappeared over the trees in a shriek of un-huskitted machismo.
Guess who was 4 years old and lived under the departure path for 24. I look back on that day and realize that must be how I got in to this mess. ;)

[JW411]

To me the most amazing and hardest to comprehend was Northwest delivering a DC-10 load of passengers to Brussels instead of Frankfurt.

[Dai Rear]

I vaguely recall an incident in the south of England during the mid 1980s when a passenger jet landed on a taxiway at the end of which another passenger jet was correctly awaiting clearance for take off. A disaster was narrowly avoided only by a sharp observer on ATC who radioed the awating aircraft and instructed them to drive onto the grass. I also seem to think that a similar incident occurred at the same runway a few years later but for both incidents I do not recall specific details.
About 6 years ago, I recall a BA 747 pilot mistaking the lights of the M4 for Heathrow and almost landing, coming within 200 yards of touchdown. From memory, the pilot was a Scottish lad who quietly disapeared and they found him a few days later in his car in a remote part of the Black Isle with a hose pipe from his exhaust.

[ebbr2]

We had an incident in Brussels, must have been at least 10 years ago. A northwest DC-10 (maybe 747) landed in Brussel instead of Frankfurt. Both airports have two runways 25L/R, there was a mix up in shannon when they came into european airspace. All controlers were convinced that they were going to BRU. The crew realised the error in final approach (was explained in newspaper??) en decided to continue to land for safety reasons. Wonder how the atmosphere must have been in the cabin when they did the PA.

[You splitter]

Ok silly suggestion time:

As well as putting the Runway designator on the the Threshold why not put the airfield code as well. Possibly at least you would end up with an embarrasing G/A rather than an embarrasing take off!

:p

[Pilot Pete]

Back in my air taxi days one of the pilots (just after I had left) landed at a small military field about 5 nm shy of Derry and on the final approach track. Can't remember it's name, but the Jepp shows it on the approach plate and warns you about it! He had a couple of punters on board and the field was shut. When ATC asked his position as he had disappeared off their screens he reported that he had landed and they advised him that it may be better if he taxied back round and took off again pronto to re-establish himself on a 'short final' for Derry! Lord knows what he told the two punters! He didn't last much longer, in fact I think it was after he took off on another job out of Cumbernauld and sailed straight across Glasgow's control zone without speaking to anyone!:rolleyes:

PP

[pigboat]

True story. At CYUL R10 and 06L have a common threshold. One morning, a newby on his way to his PPL check ride was cleared to land on 06L at the same time as a friend in a 125 was cleared to land on R28. The new guy landed on R10, and both aircraft got stopped near the intersection of Taxiway Echo, that used to be R36. My friend asked the tower who had the right-of-way. Smart-a$$ controller answered, "The one landing on the Echo." :uhoh: :p

[Flyrr100]

I'm not defending the crew that landed at the wrong airport.
They had a deffered FMS and were using old time VORs. Niether pilot had ever been to South Bend before.
The problem came when they decided to take off again without contacting anyone. The FAA busted them both. Taking off without a fuel release or runway data.

[ferrydude]

Neither pilot had been to the scheduled destination before? How does a 121 crew get route qualified without having been there?

[Hilico]

Late 80s at Ipswich, I saw with my own eyes an aircraft on long final for 14 (the short one). The tower phoned up the local USAF and it turned off before getting really close.

I don't think it would have stopped before the end.

It was a C5A.

[Flyrr100]

Pt 121 pilots can be route qualified just by having the apropriate Jepps and enroute charts. There are special airports selected by the FAA. Jepp issue color pictures of all the approaches.
Too many airports here to be personally route qualified on every possible segment.
I remember when we started to fly from Dallas to Gunnison, CO. It's smack in the middle of the Rockies. We had to have either a check airman or a captain who'd flown the route before on our first trip there. But that was an exception.
It's a big sky here in the USA.
Oh, it wasn't scheduled. It was a charter.

Didn't Pan Am take a 707 into Northolt in the late 60s, early 70s?

[Dash-7 lover]

DAN AIR HS748 LANDED AT DISUSED MIL AIRFIELD NOT FAR FROM BELFAST INT BACK IN THE LATE 90'S??

[Sawbones]

With regards to the Montreal CYUL mix-ups ... I remember an Air France B747 landing mistakenly at Cartierville Airport. It's just slightly right of the localizer for 24R at CYUL and pretty much by the OM. It's a housing subdivision now and the Canadair plant is long gone too.

[seacue]

Back in the piston / prop days Allegheny (Agony) Airlines landed at the wrong airport in upstate New York twice in a couple of months. The airline is now called US Airways.

My seatmate [a light twin owner] on a SJU-IAD flight told of a chartered UA 757 flight landing at Isla Grande [Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport] [SIG] instead of SJU. They are lined up and SIG is 6 miles before SJU on the normal approach. The 5300 ft runway wasn't enough for the heavily loaded 757 to take off - they said. There weren't any stairs tall enough to get the pax out of the 757 - and it took a long time to drive some over from SJU in rush hour traffic. These were cruise-ship passengers so I imagine the ship's sailing was delayed a little.

[grimmrad]

Quote:
Just started operating into Hamburg EDDH and there is an Airbus strip (called Finkelwerter i think) at about 5 miles for RWY 05 virtually on the centerline and same QDM!! Confusing.

The Airbus strip is called Finkenwerder (after the village close by), its were the A380 is assambled and delivered, the runway is being elongated now in spite of considerable protest from the people living close by...
There is a famous story which I cannot confirm (though it even made its appearnce into a TV movie) that back in the sixties a passenger AC mistook it for HAM, landed, could just stop before the end of the runway (after which comes immediately the river Elbe), had to be stripped down for the departure etc. Was a big laughter in Hamburg.

[usedtobe]

Late 70's a BOAC/BA VC10 landed at Sharjah instead of Dubai.
Parallel runways just a few miles apart.
VOR let down in early morning mist.
Outbound leg a bit too long.
One bit of desert looks much like another.
It's that easy!