Posted on 06/21/2004 9:36:41 PM PDT by Indy Pendance
Edited on 06/21/2004 9:48:31 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) - Two pilots at the controls of a Northwest Airlines flight when it landed at the wrong airport have been suspended from flying pending an investigation, an airline spokesman said Monday.
Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said the two pilots "have been held from service" until the review is complete. No other details were released.
The flight carrying 117 passengers to Rapid City, S.D., veered off course Saturday and landed at nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.
The plane remained on the ground for more than three hours as the pilots told Air Force security officers what went wrong, and a new crew was dispatched to continue the flight to Rapid City.
Air Force Lt. Christine Millette said the pilots reported that they were in contact with Rapid City controllers on their approach when they descended into a cloud. When the plane came out of the cloud, the first runway the pilots saw was the one at Ellsworth.
Millette said the two runways are about 7 miles apart and parallel to one another.
Original thread here:Airliner Lands at Air Force Base by Mistake, Passengers Told Not to Peek
With pay?
"If it's Saturday, this must be Rapid City."
Probably. I was searching for the original thread, couldn't find it. If you come across it, could you post it?
Totally expected. Good chance they'll never fly again.
Its an easy enough mistake. Pilot error.
Unusual to say the least.
Well you know if someone had painted Rapid City, and Air Force in big letters on these two run ways this might not have happened :')
Murphy strikes again.
Without success I've tried to find details of a Northwest international flight that landed a few hundred miles short in Europe about ten years ago. As I remember the combination of errors started over Ireland between controllers and the pilots. They were supposed to land in Frankfurt, I believe, and instead landed short in Luxemborg.
Fercryinoutloud.........haven't these twits ever heard of a vector to ILS final????
Thanks. I'm afraid I would have peeked though:')
Hah, I would have too!
Just who cleared them to land? Usually they are given an intercept to the localizer. Were they talking to approach control? Lots of things don't add up here.
Dontcha think that banning them from flying coach is a little bit too harsh? ;-)
Sure glad I don't need to fly the confused skys anymore. Don't miss it.
"ATC was so kind as to inform that I was on the approach to Bergstrom Air Force Base"
That was kind of them. I'm sure you weren't the first one, though, nor the last.
I was once "kindly" informed that I was on final to taxiway Charlie. (It _is_ a closed runway.) Tower asked me to "report runway numbers in sight". I did. 8-L
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