FUA 738 Langford Lodge
 

Just seen a Futura 738 make an approach to Langford Lodge instead of BFS. It went around Very late! Been a long time since that happened last.

It won't be the last time! I was seven minutes ahead of the Danair 748.

Very strange, ATC normally advise all arrivals on 07, especially non local, of the presence of a disused airfield with a similair runway layout (Langford) and also the fact that 07 is lighted.

Are you sure that what you saw wasn't a go around from approach to 07, I think the only 738 scheduled at that time was an XLA.

ATIS ''There is a disused airfield 3nm west of Aldergrove with a similar runway layout, Runway 07 at Aldergrove is lighted.''

I can't see any FUAs that were due in, there was a EZY Liverpool flight but that was a -700 so not the Futura sub.

Although I am not a spotter, easyJet have on lease a Futura 737-300 (and an Air Finland B757) until Sptember, EC-JUC?

It was a FUA 733 operating the EZY 607. It was a very late go-around, ordered by Aldergrove Tower. Apparently the Go Around instruction was inadvertantly blocked twice by another station; they got the instruction on the third attempt, along with the instruction "Climb IMMEDIATELY".

The subsequent visual approach onto R/W 07 looked very hairy; very (too) tight and fast left-hand circuit, steep turn onto very short final approach, all of which resulted in a long and fast landing.

EZY 608 departed 1 :35 late.

Thanks for the info BITE, can you confirm if the AC was ordered to GA because he was lined up for Langford.

BELHold:

Aldergrove Tower Controller ordered the Go Around because the FUA (EZY) was seen to be making an approach to Langford Lodge.

Well observed by ATC, to say the least.

Hats off to ATC. Hats on, coffee off to the crew.

WWW

I presume these guys don't have data monitoring then? Anyone know how close they actually came to landing at Langford? Not as much excuse for it these days if you listen to the ATIS :=

IIRC, the DA 748 Captain was a much-respected, high-hours chap. Aldergrove was the only route which the Newcastle-based 748s were used on by then. "Go figure"
331

I hope the flight crew took the air traffic controller(s) out for dinner!

It really is only a matter of time.
 

As already mentioned on another thread. The operating standards of some of the carriers who are wet leased in to do the Easyjet work which they cannot do themselves because they haven't got enough pilots are sometimes completely different to the orange airline.

Basically it's only a matter of time before something REALLY bad happens and if not for the quick reactions of the Aldegrove controller, today could have been that day. Well done guys! :D

There are other accountable managers in the orange house who are still there after MS has left and they were the ones who gave him such duff advice it cost him his job! Not a bad bloke really, meant well but way out of his depth.

Landing at the wrong airport
 

Midland 331
You say that the DA748 only operated into BFS at the time of the Langford Lodge incident. This was not the case. They operated the 748LGW/BRS/CWL/JER/LGW also NCL/BFS/CWL/BFS/NCL plus ABZ/SCS/ABZ and TXL/SCN/TXL/AMS. The captain as you say was very experienced and as he became visual, he unfortunately saw a long runway and accompanied by a new young first officer, promptly landed. Hence the warning on the ATIS when 07 is in use. Another 'Gotcha' is Ballykelly on the approach to Londonderry. Laker Airways managed to land a 1-11 at a private flying club's airfield instead of Mahon's main airport. British United managed to land a 1-11 on the taxyway at Gatwick.

I did not make it clear in my first posting, sorry.
I meant that the 748 based at Newcastle only did Belfast, to my knowledge, and the captain was on 748s alone, so it was not as if the route was unfamiliar. There, but for the grace of God...
I wonder if he did an absolute "greaser". Then, I wonder what first goes through the mind as the crew look for the terminal, parked aricraft, usual exits, etc,etc...
I once watched an Iberia DC9 taxi along the link to line up at 26L at LGW, and simply carry straight on into the maintenance area.
r

Just to be extremely pedantic, it was British Island (unless BUA did a separate one). Air Malta did the same as well shortly afterwards. I believe the lighting arrangements when the "emergency" runway was in use were changed afterwards.

The wrong runway
 

WHBMYou are correct, it was BIA not BUA and I seem to recall that the flight was being operated by two training captains. Both company names are now in the dim and distant past!!

In addition to the 748 I believe an Aviaco DC-9 landed at Langford Lodge whilst positioning to BFS at the start of the summer season a number of years ago (early 1980s or late 1970s?). The crew asked for a 'follow-me' vehicle to take them to the terminal as they could not see it. Whoops!!!

There have been many cases of landing at a wrong adjacent airport over the years, but as far as I am aware not one of them has resulted in an accident. Commonsense says it ought to be an extreme hazard, but seems not to have been so.

Anyone know different ?

As opposed to trying to a departure going wrong