Have you ever landed at the wrong airport?

Have you mistakenly landed at field other than your intended field?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 8.5%

  • No

    Votes: 97 91.5%
  • Total voters
    106
Voted no.

Closest I came was as a CFII, when both the student and I missed the fact we were flying a practice approach into the wrong Ft. Myers airport.

I think Approach caught our mistake for us - no harm, no foul.
 
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I watched a CFI and a student do several T&Gs with out talking on the radio. There were several planes in the pattern. We could not figure out what was going on so I wrote down his N number and called the flight school it was assigned to. The CFI was announcing on the wrong freq because he thought he was at a different airport! :eek:

True story.
 
Albany lined me up on final for the wrong airport but the tower figured it out.
 
No but I've been lost on the ground. Shortly after I got my license I landed at Colorado Springs. Told to taxi to the ramp I saw a sign that said "TRANSIENT AIRCRAFT" and followed it's direction. I soon found out all these transient aircraft were painted in military colors and a large sign announced "WELCOME TO NORAD." I'm sure the tower getting a chuckle at my navigation was quite prepared to give the progressives when I finally confessed.
 
Not at the wrong field but on the wrong runway. I was flying right seat with our corporate pilot about a dozen years ago when he landed on 03 after being cleared to land on 01 at MKC. Tower caught his error when he was still about two miles out, "it appears as I'd you're lined up on 03, no problem. You're cleared to land on either runway."

He looked over at me and said "that's really f****** embarrassing".

He was a very good and conservative pilot but we all have our moments.

Oh, it was about 11pm.
 
I was flying the pattern at one airport, after leaving another airport because they were too busy. After about my 5th lap, I called the tower by the other airport's name. Caught it immediately and corrected myself and apologized. The tower accepted my apology but was laughing why they did it.
 
One day, hot, hazy, bumpy, lots of traffic vectoring, I momentarily lined up (long way out) on one of the crosswind runways on the east side of dfw. It was not making sense to me, and I was already turning to proper course, but APR called me on it (with a chuckle). My son still reminds me of it!
 
another one who landed on the wrong runway here. on one of my dual xc's my instructor asked me how I was going to enter the pattern. on my xc plan I draw how the runway is situated and what direction I'm flying in from. I said, I'll just swing around this way, enter a 45 upwind, x-w, downwind, yadda yadda. sure enough, as I'm turning final I said "uh, that's not RWY 3".
luckily, 1) the place was completely empty and 2) I got to blame my instructor for not catching it hahah.
 
On my first cross country solo I managed to land on the wrong runway at a towered airport. Thankfully this was back in the day and no one made any kind of a deal about it.
 
Voted Yes - but not really the "wrong" airport per se. I landed where I filed, it just wasn't where I was supposed to be. Had a business meeting in VA with associates picking me up in KHEF Manassas; however, I filed and landed in KRMN (Stafford) as that is my milk run airport to the DC area. Quick phone call with "I'm here" and they say "We're here too, where are you?"....Oh sh......
 
I fly just for fun, so I just land at whatever airport is nearest to me when I'm sick of flying. It's never the wrong airport.:D
 
Landed at a closed airport once... :( Ugh.
But it was where I was headed.

Check your NOTAMS.
 
I almost did it in an airliner though. I was flying from IAD to SFO and back. However I bought the ticket through a travel agency in NJ (don't get me started on how much I hate travel agents). Now this was back in the day when they didn't have computer printed luggage tags. When I got to SFO for the return flight, the guy is putting a EWR tag on my bag. This I caught and said I'm going to IAD. He checks my paperwork and says, nope you're going to EWR according to your ticket. He does point out it is odd that I am open jawed from IAD-SFO-EWR. Fortunately, the mistake is easily corrected (there is an IAD flight at the same time).

However, I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't caught the luggage tag. I might very well have gotten on the plane and flown to EWR. Retrieved my bag. Got on the long term shuttle lot D bus and gone out to about row 10 where I always parked at EWR when I flew from there and would have been wandering around trying to figure out where I had left my car.
 
Well, there was the time I got on the US Airways jet to Fayetteville and landed in North Carolina instead of Arkansas, but that's probably not what you're talking about.

Taking off on one of the 19's out of CLT, the jet turned left after takeoff instead of right. I turned to the guy next to me and asked, "Where is this plane going?" Got an interesting look back before he said "Fayetteville." "Which one," I asked, "North Carolina or Arkansas?" "North Carolina," he replied. Without another word, I reached up and hit the FA call button. When she showed up, I told her the problem. Her reply was priceless: "No wonder the count was off by one!"

picard-facepalm.jpg
 
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It was a lot easier to do back when I started flying, in the pre-GPS days. Like other have confessed to, I've never landed at the wrong airport, but a long time ago once lined up for the wrong runway.

This has to be embarrassing for these guys, especially with the national headlines. I feel sorry for them.
 
Not mistakenly. I've several times landed at an airport besides my intended to wait out some weather though.
 
I've landed at the right airport only to have a passenger come up and say "we forgot to tell you, we don't want to go here anymore, we want to go to ....."
 
I've landed at the wrong airport because it was the one indicated on our trip sheet, although not the one the passengers were expecting. Coincidentally it also involved Jabara. which is where they wanted to go. Our trip sheet said Mid-Continent (KICT). When we landed the passengers asked, "Where are we?" which isn't what you want to hear.
 
Almost. There is a closed airport a few miles east of Johnson County airport south of Kansas city. Same runway layout. This was pre-GPS days but my DME was giving me the distance to the on-field OJC VOR.

When I spotted that closed airport, the number on the DME went completely out of my head. I call OJC tower, got instructions to enter on a right downwind and clearance to land on 36. On final, I called tower to ask about the big "X" on the run way. I got a laugh and "I know where you are." One of the many good lessons I have learned while flying.
 
kgruber said:
I've landed at the right airport only to have a passenger come up and say "we forgot to tell you, we don't want to go here anymore, we want to go to ....."
Click to expand...

He! I'd respond with "I'm sorry but that airport banned me for punching a passenger." :D
 
I did it on my long cross country as a student. I had done some dual before the flight, so I had been flying for about 5 hours that day, which probably wasn't a great idea. It looked like the right place and it was close... That is what inspired my purchasing a Garmin 496 (pre iPad/ForeFlight being available).
 
Sure haven't, but I have lined up on the wrong rotating beacon more than once

FWIW each time I was looking for ISZ but found the LUK beacon first despite it being further away.
 
No, but when I did my night cross country for my PPL, it was not easy to figure out which airport was which when the plane had no nav instruments. Flying strictly by pilotage and dead reckoning at night, it would be easy to end up at the wrong airport. I ended up clicking the mic button to turn on the lights of the various airports to figure out which one was which, according to its CTAF frequency.

Thank goodness for GPS.
 
Lined up on approach to the wrong runway once - in the Gulf of Oman. I wasn't the pilot, but did play controller that day.

We (E-2 Hawkeye) controlled an EMCON (Emission Controlled - every transmitter on the boat shut down) recovery to the Nimitz, where we orbited some distance from the carrier and vectored the aircraft into a visual landing. It was pretty low-vis day - sand and haze really heavy, if I recall correctly.

As last plane in, we shut down the radar, flew to the stack and headed inbound. Half way to home, the guys up front said they were following a wake inbound, then two, then three wakes on the water. They asked me to take a quick radar sweep and find our bunks, so I painted one quick pass out front, picked out the biggest target and gave them a steer, and shut it down again.

Cockpit conversation was something like ...
"There's a wake ..."
"Yeah, follow it"
"There's the boat"
"Is it?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Oh crap! That's a tanker! Wave it off!"
"Uh, RO, where was the second biggest target?"

A few adjustments here and there and we made it back in time for lunch.
 
NoHeat said:
No, but when I did my night cross country for my PPL, it was not easy to figure out which airport was which when the plane had no nav instruments. Flying strictly by pilotage and dead reckoning at night, it would be easy to end up at the wrong airport. I ended up clicking the mic button to turn on the lights of the various airports to figure out which one was which, according to its CTAF frequency.

Thank goodness for GPS.
Click to expand...

That's using your noodle
 
Geico266 said:
I watched a CFI and a student do several T&Gs with out talking on the radio. There were several planes in the pattern. We could not figure out what was going on so I wrote down his N number and called the flight school it was assigned to. The CFI was announcing on the wrong freq because he thought he was at a different airport! :eek:

True story.
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One time I landed at Friday Harbor, in the SAN Juan Islands, announcing my position and intentions on the wrong frequency. I had been using a frequency that was provided for advisories between aircraft flying in the general area, and forgot to change to the one specific to the airport. Someone called me and told me on the general frequency as I was taxiing to the ramp. :redface:
 
Back in my private days I was flying a solo x/c to Texarkana and mistaked the interstate as the airport. I looked off and saw what looked like the airport and called Tower who replied "Clear to land runway xx" Only after I passed the airport did Tower call up and say "Hey bud, it's back here" *forehead slap*

Also I've landed the wrong direction at Little Rock on one of my numerous required x/c. Coming in from the west I was cleared to land on 18. However this call came abnormally far out as the airport was dead. So I proceeded to drift south and lined up for 36. On short final Tower said "Hey I cleared you for 18 but... your about to land... So clear to land 36" Thankfully the controllers around here know our school's tail numbers. He laughed and told me to get my mental compass fixed.
 
re. the problem of distinguishing airports at night, I've always wondered why aviation didn't adopt for beacons the trick used for lighthouses. Before GPS, a ship could find its position at night along a shoreline by noting the timing of the flashing light. Each lighthouse has a different period for the flashing. I always though airport beacons should do the same thing.
 
NoHeat said:
re. the problem of distinguishing airports at night, I've always wondered why aviation didn't adopt for beacons the trick used for lighthouses. Before GPS, a ship could find its position at night along a shoreline by noting the timing of the flashing light. Each lighthouse has a different period for the flashing. I always though airport beacons should do the same thing.
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There is no reason you can't use the lighthouses to navigate by air, if available. They are charted, at least on the TACs and sectionals. They are often labeled "Oc" ("occulting") or "Fl" ("flashing"). There is one of each at the entrance to the Golden Gate, for instance (but the city lights might be a bit more of a giveaway).
 
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No...I was headed for the wrong airport once.

Took off at night, and started heading towards the destination. Picked up a beacon way out, and thought "Fantastic..." Flying along, heading for the beacon, "fat, dumb and happy" going along, and I look down at the GPS in the pannel and see that my intended airport is directly off my left wing...look and wouldn't you know it, there was a beacon there too.

I'd picked up another airport about 20 miles further away than my intended airport...oops.
 
During a solo X-C as a student, I lined up with a closed airport instead of HFD. It was only a mile away. At about 700 AGL on final, I noticed the white X. At about the same time, the tower which had already cleared me to land said "It looks like you're lined up with the closed airport. We're on the west side of the river".
 
I have landed at the wrong airport a number of times, but then I was the CFI and saw it happening well in advance. But I figure what better way to drive the point home to double check your navigation.

I have had the tower trying to find us visually before clearing us to land, when I advised to student to tell them we are at another airport.

I have landed, closed our flight plan and was calling to file our return flight plan when I took the student back outside to read the sign on the building so he could have us actually departing from the correct airport

I landing on the wrong airport twice on one cross country after I failed the GPS. I was trying to drive home the point that the he needed to work on his pilotage. He did a fabulous job of making the point for me.

Brian
 
brcase said:
I have landed at the wrong airport a number of times, but then I was the CFI and saw it happening well in advance. But I figure what better way to drive the point home to double check your navigation.

I have had the tower trying to find us visually before clearing us to land, when I advised to student to tell them we are at another airport.

I have landed, closed our flight plan and was calling to file our return flight plan when I took the student back outside to read the sign on the building so he could have us actually departing from the correct airport

I landing on the wrong airport twice on one cross country after I failed the GPS. I was trying to drive home the point that the he needed to work on his pilotage. He did a fabulous job of making the point for me.

Brian
Click to expand...

I guess I get spoiled.

Around where I live, there is NO excuse for landing at the wrong airport. Almost all have notations like this:

http://goo.gl/maps/Sc9SR
http://goo.gl/maps/RD06j
http://goo.gl/maps/gBkQk
http://goo.gl/maps/ltgjn

These are all clearly legible from pattern altitude.
 
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