PPRuNe Forums - SWA lands at wrong airport.

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- - SWA lands at wrong airport. (https://www.pprune.org/usa/531795-swa-lands-wrong-airport.html)

Maybe we should go back to teaching Airmanship?

Nah....too expensive, right?

Treat people like idiots for long enough, they start to act like idiots.

Take their safety blanket away, watch them grow up quick. :ok:

SGF radar MVA on the Kansas City Sectional.

43 miles from the radar site to KBBG, 37 miles to KPLK.

Not great radar at "pattern" altitudes at those distances.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps24190fd0.jpg

Going back to teaching airmenship?

Whenever this period was, did crews always land at the correct airport?

They didn't always land on the right aircraft carrier.

Westie.

Some folks can't even spell it, never mind exercise it. ;)

OK we get it... "Airmanship". :ugh:

The point I was hinting at is that working the autos, the FMS and the on board aids has for some replaced the 'nuts and bolts' of the job.

I know it's sometimes called 'automation complacency' but I think it's a little deeper than that. I fly with guys who seem to think they are indestructible in the air as long as they just follow......everything.

They rely on 'the system' for protection, not themselves.

live CNN coverage of takeoff...

CNN Live Event -- Streaming Now

same feed, raw original, HQ

started at 19:50 UTC
http://www.ustream.tv/cbsnews

I remember when Johnny Carson (remember him) made jokes about landing at the wrong airport. It was over 30 years ago. It happened back then, though not at such a short field.

SO, thanks to Johnny Carson, I worked extra hard not to be the butt of his jokes and have landed at the proper airport on the correct runway since then!

ANYONE remember when DELTA use to stand for: Don't Ever Land There Again!?

Start #1 - 1854Z

Taxi to RW 30

Brake release - 1900Z

(Edit - yep, my Zuluizer was in the wrong timezone. Actually 2054 and 2100Z) :uhoh:

Takeoff roll about to start

Gear up, no wing wave though.

Never too early for rampant speculation but I have to contribute based on the amazing cultural characteristics I have learnt about in this forum from past incidents....... Maybe they were Asian?

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Start #1 - 18:54Z

Uh, you must be in a different Zulu timezone. ;)

Quote:

Gear up, no wing wave though.

Was thinking the same thing. His check airman letter would probably be pulled if he did the wing wave these days though.

I was asked to do a photo pass while taking an empty plane out of one of the Boeing facilities years ago. I sheepishly declined, didn't have written authorization, felt bad until some foreign chief pilot got fired a few weeks later for doing a pass out of the same facility with the boss on board.

It's no longer the good old days when it was easier to get forgiveness than permission.

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It happens and its becoming a regular occurence worldwide

racedo, I suppose one event is one too many but it would be interesting to see how the stats have changed over the last few decades.

Statistically I would suggest, given the huge numbers of landings in today air transport operations, that landing at the wrong airport is a lot less common compared to say 20/30 years ago?

Southwest issued this update statement a short while ago:

Quote:

Statement Regarding Flight 4013 - Updated Mon., Jan. 13, 3 PM CST

The aircraft that landed at (PLK) Taney County airport in Branson, Missouri, departed at approximately 3:00 PM CST, after a thorough inspection. The aircraft is scheduled to resume regular service later today. We continue to support the NTSB in their investigation to uncover the circumstances which led the Pilot in command of flight 4013 from Chicago Midway to land at PLK, six (6) nautical miles from the Branson Airport we serve. The Captain working the flight is a 14 year Southwest Employee and the First Officer is a 12 year Southwest Employee, having a combined tenure of 26 years with the Company. The pilots are currently on paid leave, pending the conclusion of the investigation.

We want to, again, thank responders and Branson Airport Administrators for joining in the work with our ground operations staff to immediately take care of our Customers and their baggage last night. We have since reached out to each Customer directly to apologize, refund their tickets, and provide future travel credit as a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience.

In previous incidents the pilots have also been put on 'paid leave'. In some cases they were subsequently fired, e.g. the BUR overrun in Y2K and the PIC in the recent LGA hard landing. Often SWAPA is able to get their jobs back as is the custom at a union airline.

And, in case you missed it, video of the takeoff with the usual astute commentary from the news reader:

KSPR special report: Southwest Airlines jet takes off from wrong airport | Local - Home

Looks like they landed at the right airport in Tulsa:

Southwest (WN) #8506 ? FlightAware

In the "Old Days" we used to tune up the ILS and make sure the HSI was set for the inbound course for visual approaches.

Not saying it would have made a difference here, but if you are lined up with the runway and your inbound course is 20 degrees off....something is wrong.

Both KBBG and KPLK have RNAV approaches, and Branson is in the name....maybe the wrong approach was selected????

Back in the days of my bush flying it was common to land at the wrong strip.
One short clearing in the bush looks very much like another when all you have is a map, a compass and a wrist watch. Just ask the locals - "The one you want is 18 miles thataway". A handheld GPS and a bit of Velcro means that nobody gets
caught out by being blown off course now.

With all of the navaids and fancy gear available to airliners in the developed world it takes a special breed of idiot to get it wrong nowadays.

Southwest Airlines, "No Frills, More Thrills."