Commercial Pilot Lands at Wrong Field

[WillDAQ]

Originally Posted by captjns

Sorry Stepwilk… I did not realize you were sitting in front of your Microsoft Flight Simulator or Play Station. Anyway here goes.

Licence Type (eg CPL. Pilots only) commercial
Current a/c Type (eg B737. Pilots only) All under-12,500 lb. GA single and multiengine land and sea planes, glider, CE500 type rating
Biography former Exec Editor Flying magazine, currently contribute to Air & Space and Aviation History magazines

[sitigeltfel]

There have been many instances of Naval aviators landing on the wrong carrier, known as "catching a live one". The carrier involved would sometimes let the errant aircraft land to pile embarrassment on the crew. Before the suitably redecorated aircraft was allowed to launch and recover to the correct carrier, a case of the captains favourite tipple was normally offered as compensation.

[Graybeard]

Pre-flight Important, Too

In Aug 1983, a CAL DC-10 took off from LAX headed for HNL. By the time they reached the departure gateway, ATC advised they were north of course. They checked the dual INS, and returned to LAX, flagging both INS for bad navigation.

That nearly state of the art INS had only one item in NVM, the lat/long at shutdown. That was same as departure lat/long in this case. Supposedly the FE had entered the departure lat/long, then verified by the pilots. The Lat was correct for LAX, but the Longitude was for Denver.

If they hadn't been caught by ATC, they may have ended up lost beyond VHF range of HNL, 800 miles to the west.

KAL007 happened a month later. Instead of 149W, the FE could have entered 140W or 139W.

[MurphyWasRight]

There have been many instances of Naval aviators landing on the wrong carrier, known as "catching a live one". The carrier involved would sometimes let the errant aircraft land to pile embarrassment on the crew. Before the suitably redecorated aircraft was allowed to launch and recover to the correct carrier, a case of the captains favourite tipple was normally offered as compensation.

Along the lines of "how could they possibly miss that"; a long time ago I read in a Naval Aviation magazine safety collumn that the Nayv had launched every type of folding wing (as in make space on deck, not variable geometry) aircraft they own at least once with the wings still folded!

Totally amazing is that some did -not- end up in the water but managed to open the wings after launch.

[con-pilot]

One of our airliners was trying to land at El Paso and ended up at the military field just north. Realizing his mistake he took off again and landed at El Paso. He got in more trouble for his unauthorized take off than his original mistake.

The way those two airports are situated it is very easy to lie up on the wrong airport when landing to the south when approaching from the north on a visual approach, even in very clear weather.

I always had the ILS tuned for El Paso no matter how clear the weather was. It is a trap that is very easy to fall into.

One place that was just as bad is no longer an issue. That was Kansas City, Missouri Downtown Airport, which used to be the home base for TWA and Kansas City, Kansas Fairfax Airport just across the river. There one was most likely to mistake the two airports in poor weather conditions while shooting the ILS approach with a cross wind from the west. When you broke out of the clouds around 500 to 1,000 AGL with a west crosswind, the Fairfax runway was right in front of the aircraft, perfectly lined up. Fairfax is now closed, so the problem no longer exists.

[taildrag]

I don't recall hearing "wrong airport" stories about any of the Florida airports, which have similar layouts in some cases.

I do remember a story of an ATCO querying one pilot, "Are you landing at FLL (Fort Lauderdale)?" "Yes, why?" "Well, it just went by over your right shoulder."

Yoiks!

[jackx123]

so "commercial" pilot is a big thing. why not airline pilot since there are plenty of em in the past aiming for the the wrong strip.

[Desert185]

History has shown that mistakes can happen to anyone. My emphasis was never to land at the wrong airport or the wrong runway, no pod or tail strikes, no wing strikes during taxi (even with the assistance of marshallers) and no gear up landings...essentially, no accidents or incidents. I set the parking brake for the last time at the airlines meeting those goals (with a proud sigh, I might add), and I still do a bit of flying. So far, so good...

I am thankful for my luck and wish the same for others.

[westhawk]

Right on Desert!

That's something worth aspiring to. So far so good, but always on guard.

[moggiee]

All too easily done.

I suspect that the problem is often one of insufficient planning and briefing. As pilots, we thoroughly brief any instrument approach, despite them being our daily diet yet we are often guilty of rushing into a visual approach even though they are rare "treats" for an airline pilot.

[Parson]

Not that long ago, a private jet carrying a certain F1 driver from the west country landed at Filton rather than Bristol.

[pasir]

no excuse

Almost - but not quite I too could have landed at the wrong field - Being a newly qualified PPL and on my first real overland trip from Biggin to Hurn -with the final stage of the trip flying over the New Forest - which I beleive at that time still had two or three disused RAF airfields in close proximity to each other - with the outcome that most will now realise. So there I was giving my circuit position to the Hurn controller who acknowledged each call - placing me somewhere around Nr 3 downwind - (it was many years ago and memory may have lapsed) and only when reporting on base or turning final did the controller realise something was not quite right - and anxiously suggested could I be over Stony Stratford - or the other nearby disused airfield. Realising my mistake
at the 11th hour I had every good reason to be grateful to the Hurn controller that day !

...

[sherburn2LA]

lining up for the runway at Camp Pendleton Marine Base instead of Fallbrook, CA just after 9/11 will make your heart flutter a bit when you realise what you have done (still a little short of the restricted area fortunately).

[westhawk]

I was humble enough to ask

Good attitude towards learning and try never to lose that personal quality. A healthy dose of skepticism also goes a long way toward preventing mistakes based on faulty assumptions. As time goes on and as each new achievement is realized, your confidence in self will grow, yet should be tempered by the humility that can come only with experience. Humility and confidence can and do coexist in the best pilots I've known and flown with.

In that vein, I'll share a couple of experiences related to the thread topic.

We were flying into Boeing field (KBFI) in Seattle, WA and had just been issued a descent and a heading to intercept the final approach course for the ILS 31L. So we're turning and descending and it looks like we'll get all this done in time to capture the LOC and configure for approach with room to spare. There were layered cloud conditions and we were in and out of the clouds and into bright sunshine with excellent visibility every few seconds. What is known as a beautiful day in the Seattle area.

Just as the LOC came alive, we get a TCAS "climb" RA! Okay, nose and thrust up, we fly right into a big billowy cumulus cloud. After a few seconds, the PNF had notified ATC and ID'd the red traffic symbol on the MAP display as being behind us just as the "clear of conflict" message comes over the audio. Okay we agree. time to push back down to the last altitude and capture the LOC. Just then we fly out of the cloud and see a big runway right in front of us, perfectly lined up only a few miles away. Crap, we're pretty high to make the straight-in, but the nose is down and Hawkers descend very capably. We can make it.

I notice my partner squirming in his seat as he advises ATC of our intended return to the previously assigned altitude and it hits me. The damned LOC needle is full left, we'd flown through the LOC during the RA maneuver and were now right of course. That airport in front of us is NOT BFI* and we need to stop this descent at the assigned altitude and go get that LOC. Fortunately, this all happened such that capturing the altitude and LOC were easily accomplished in short order. But that moment of disorientation following the untimely RA had nearly distracted me into doing a very stupid thing. I was thankful that my flying partner's obvious discomfort had triggered my skepticism and prevented what could have become an unpleasant outcome. We laughed about it over beers and dinner later. Yeah, I understand how easily things like this can happen.

Fast forward 5 years and we're on vectors for a visual to San Jose, CA. (KSJC) This time I'm right seat for a guy doing his IOE in the Westwind. It's a little fuzzy but visibility is about 5 miles in the haze common to the area. It's near sunset though, and we really can't see much else but the cityscape. Only one of the long runways is open due to construction and no ILS is operative so we've got the SJC VOR tuned and the airport displayed on the GNS 530 for orientation. There is quite a few other planes on the freq and the controller is firing vectors out at machine gun pace. We did at least three heading changes and speed adjustments for sequencing. We've been instructed to follow a SWA 37 to the airport and can just make him out ahead of us. It looks like following him will have us intercepting a final for rwy 12R with about 4 or 5 miles to go. Just then ATC breaks us out with a new vector for re-sequencing.

After a couple more vectors, we're told the airport is ten o'clock and 5 miles, (at least that's what I thought I'd heard. On reflection it could have been "nine" miles) report in sight. I spot an airport in front of us and ask the PF if he sees it. He agrees so I inform ATC and he clears us for visual approach and contact tower. The PF starts maneuvering to line up on the runway as he begins descending and calling for flaps and gear. I notice the DME indicating 8 miles and the KSJC symbol on the GPS map offset to the left. About now, I realize that the airport doesn't look right either. "Crap", says I,"those are the blimp hangars and that's Moffet field"! We turn left with a big blast of thrust and spot SJC followed by a normal landing. Luckily we'd never gotten that close to landing at Moffet and there was no activity there that day so once again no harm done.

But no further proof that mistakes always wait for any opportunity is needed! If fate is the hunter, then the complacent are the hunted. Constant vigilance born of skepticism and a desire never to make dumb mistakes are well complimented by habitual crosschecking and the employment of established error trapping procedures. And yet still it happens...

*the field I lined up on was Renton. (KRNT)

[Speedbird48]

I was driving by the field at Lake Charles at the time they should have landed and my passengers commented that both sets of runway lights were on. It was a crystal clear night with no haze, and low temperatures and therefore little humidity. Lake Charles has several large hangars and a terminal building. It also has navigation aids.

Southland field is several miles West near Sulpher, La and is a small single runway field with few buildings. There are a large number of chemical plants, all well illuminated, between Sulpher and Lake Charles. There is a large river and a big lake as well as the lights of the much larger city of Lake Charles. All clearly visible.

The tower is closed at that time of night as in many rural airfields with commuter service in the US, Not unusual.

To sum up, lazy or badly trained crews. Complacent comes to mind. This is the third occurance according to the local press. I notice Colgan as being the operator, is anyone watching their operation??

Speedbird 48.

[OKhalsa]

To those pilots who post about their own personal experiences regarding inadvertantly mistaking other airfields for their intended destinations, thank you very much for your honesty, humbleness and willingness to share. A real breath of fresh air, far cry from those self aggrandizing posts about superior flying skills, yada, yada, yada.

Though I have never made such error in any of my landing approaches, I have turned onto wrong taxiways on the ground a couple of times. I have been even caught turning into the wrong gate once!

I am alway amazed at local US pilots making derogatory remarks ( at immigration lines ) about foreign pilots being reluctant to accept visual approaches. Come on guys, we probably fly to some US airports once in 6 months or once in a year; we are not familiar with all the visual landmarks, rivers, highways, race tracks etc. When ATC gives rapid fire visual clearances specifying visual landmarks, it is very dicey for anyone unfamiliar with the local scene to accept visual approaches.

The sniggers we get when we need to ask for repeat of ATC instructions, the disparaging remarks when we miss a high speed turn off, etc are all examples of small man syndrome. I have heard US and foreign pilots struggling with ATC in Asia too, or even in Europe.

[Desert185]

OKhalsa

I am alway amazed at local US pilots making derogatory remarks ( at immigration lines ) about foreign pilots being reluctant to accept visual approaches. Come on guys, we probably fly to some US airports once in 6 months or once in a year; we are not familiar with all the visual landmarks, rivers, highways, race tracks etc. When ATC gives rapid fire visual clearances specifying visual landmarks, it is very dicey for anyone unfamiliar with the local scene to accept visual approaches.

The sniggers we get when we need to ask for repeat of ATC instructions, the disparaging remarks when we miss a high speed turn off, etc are all examples of small man syndrome. I have heard US and foreign pilots struggling with ATC in Asia too, or even in Europe.

To keep it fair and balanced, I think I can safely say I have never seen an Asian pilot make a visual approach in Asia, unless you consider Kai Tak's IGS13 to be visual. I have, BTW, and done so a number of times when ATC allowed it. With today's moving map displays, one doesn't need local knowledge in every case. Even without moving maps, a visual to Kansai on a good night can easily be done...with approach nav backup, of course. A visual doesn't necessarily mean not selecting the appropriate nav references.

Language issues? Absolutely. Asia and Europe, both. Goes with the territory for a non-native speaker.

Being derogatory towards each other, justified or otherwise, is a two-way street. Not nice, but a fact of life. We've all had our share of it, even here. Just consider the source and press on.

6'0", BTW.

[OKhalsa]

To keep it fair and balanced, I think I can safely say I have never seen an Asian pilot make a visual approach in Asia, unless you consider Kai Tak's IGS13 to be visual. I have, BTW, and done so a number of times when ATC allowed it.

Just like Al Gore, I am going to let out a long sigh. It shows that you don't get to see much over in Asia too. Many of my colleagues and I had regularly made visual approaches into Kansai, Fukuoka, Penang, Don Muang, Phuket, Pusan and LAX.

Using moving map when you are asked to approach via a certain landmark.......sorry, my aircraft has no google map and I ain't that smart to be constructing waypoints to depict those landmarks below 10000ft.

[Desert185]

Samba Anaconda
Quote:
I have never seen an Asian pilot make a visual approach in Asia, unless you consider Kai Tak's IGS13 to be visual. I have, BTW, and done so a number of times when ATC allowed it
My dear Okhalsa, no need for the long sigh and any shaking of your head. He/she is the paragon of western psych war expert ( sadly I come from the west too ), subtly telling you that you are inferior. He/she is so superior, so bloody good at manual visual approaches and you poor Asian sods are useless, nowhere in his/her league. You get the message now. See how clever this individual is; that message is to be sunk subliminally into all and sundry reading this thread. That was the way the colonies were subjugated and such individuals are reminding you again, get it?

I never said any of that rubbish, nor did I intend to send that message. The fact that you and OKhalsa took it that way speaks more negatively of your personal thought processes and bias than mine.

Al Gore?

[Samba Anaconda]

I have never seen an Asian pilot make a visual approach in Asia, unless you consider Kai Tak's IGS13 to be visual. I have, BTW, and done so a number of times when ATC allowed it

My dear Okhalsa, no need for the long sigh and any shaking of your head. He/she is the paragon of western psych war expert ( sadly I come from the west too ), subtly telling you that you are inferior. He/she is so superior, so bloody good at manual visual approaches and you poor Asian sods are useless, nowhere in his/her league. You get the message now. See how clever this individual is; that message is to be sunk subliminally into all and sundry reading this thread. That was the way the colonies were subjugated and such individuals are reminding you again, get it?