You'd think this couldn't happen in this day and age...

Z06_Mir said:
There is no ILS to runway 14 in rapid city. Maybe this will be enough to get us one, but I doubt it. It was vfr after all.
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Yeah, I know. It was VFR at night, though, and at the end of a longish day. There is an RNAV, though. Something to ensure that you don't land on the wrong airport. I at least mark the runway threshold and put a runway extension line on it. I don't want to taunt Karma too much. I'm sure they were tired and just looking forward to getting to their hotel for the night. Lord knows, I've been there.
 
Back in 1997 I listened to AF1 (using a DC9 IIRC) as it almost landed at a 2000 foot airport in West Virginia, with Bill Clinton on board. And ATC gave plenty of hints that they were not heading for the correct airport. They finally listened when ATC called, climb and maintain 5000 feet, airport is 10 o'clock and 10 miles, turn heading xxx to intercept the localizer, localizer is 109.9..... Funny, when ATC corrected their mistake, no more voices were heard from AF1.

The best of the best my left little toe...... its all volunteer, more like the best of what you get....

Seriously, I sat on my hands so I would not make a wise crack on the radio.
 
Northwest Airlink did the same thing 8 or 10 years ago. I believe before that, Northwest mainline had their oops moment as well.
The Air Force returned the favor by landing a C17 at a Peter O Knight airport in Tampa rather than McDill AFB.
 
Eh nothing new, happens a few times every year. We even had one of our pilots land on the parallel taxiway instead of that big runway @ ATL with all the funny markings on it. A major airliner did it at night too in ATL.
 
Hey ya still have that number for that truck driving school?
 
Sluggo63 said:
Yeah, I know. It was VFR at night, though, and at the end of a longish day. There is an RNAV, though. Something to ensure that you don't land on the wrong airport. I at least mark the runway threshold and put a runway extension line on it. I don't want to taunt Karma too much. I'm sure they were tired and just looking forward to getting to their hotel for the night. Lord knows, I've been there.
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The rnav to 14 also brings you directly over Ellsworth. The hawker that landed there last year was on that approach as it was IFR. Four days ago a Columbia tried its best to land there on that approach too. Unfortunately there isn't an easy way to teach transients the differences. Ellsworth does have their buildings on the easi side and Rapids are on the west.
Norman said:
Orders of magnitude more visible. I've been into RAP a few times, and particularly coming from the west Ellsworth stands out.
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Absolutely. It's so much bigger and bolder. The concrete is a better color than Rapids too.
 
I refuse to throw stones. I was involved in a similar situation many years ago between Capital City and Harrisburg PA. We didn't land at the wrong airport but came closer than we should have.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
I refuse to throw stones. I was involved in a similar situation many years ago between Capital City and Harrisburg PA. We didn't land at the wrong airport but came closer than we should have.
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Yep. It can happen to anyone. I'm not going point the fingers and say I could do better.
 
kgruber said:
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Always thought they shoulda left it there, clip the wings off and make a diner out it. The story I heard is that they did take the seats and just about everything else that wasn't welded or riveted out of the cabin before taking off.
 
There was a Western 737 that landed at the wrong airport in Wyoming 1979. Going to Sheridan, KSHR and landed at Buffalo KBYG. Neither pilot had flown the route before. Captain files an ASRS but they suspended him anyway. It went to court. Ferguson vs NTSB. Court upholds the suspension. This is a big event in Buffalo. They create a Festival, Lowell Ferguson Days. He went back and was the Grand Marshall at the parade.
 
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Good job on TRACON in pointing out both airports but when he and both towers should've been monitoring the aircraft's track. Part of Local's duties is to monitor their airspace and runways. You see an a passenger jet on final to your runway, key up the landline to KRAP and tell them to send the Delta around. Hit them with a flashing red while you're at it.

Responsibility is squarely on the pilots but man, at least three controllers could have intervened on this.
 
They aughta do to airliners what the Navy used to do to aircraft that landed on the wrong carrier....
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Ron Wanttaja
 
"""""Always thought they shoulda left it there, clip the wings off and make a diner out it. The story I heard is that they did take the seats and just about everything else that wasn't welded or riveted out of the cabin before taking off.""""

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They were mass conservative. Looking at the video, the DC-8 needed less than 1/2 of the runway!
 
1984. Couldn't get aboard the ship at night so they had to divert to NAS Mayport. Unfortunately this isn't Mayport but Craig Field about 5 miles west. :eek:
 

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Velocity173 said:
Good job on TRACON in pointing out both airports but when he and both towers should've been monitoring the aircraft's track. Part of Local's duties is to monitor their airspace and runways. You see an a passenger jet on final to your runway, key up the landline to KRAP and tell them to send the Delta around. Hit them with a flashing red while you're at it.

Responsibility is squarely on the pilots but man, at least three controllers could have intervened on this.
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Yeah. It's a known problem there. Thats gonna come up in the investigation. It'll be interesting to see what the NTSB recommendations are.
 
luvflyin said:
Yeah. It's a known problem there. Thats gonna come up in the investigation. It'll be interesting to see what the NTSB recommendations are.
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My brother works at a similar setup. ABI and DYS. He's said over the years he's had a number of aircraft mistake one airport for the other and they had to step in. Once had a Baron land at Dyess by accident but he wasn't on position when it happened.

While we shake our heads and wonder how something like this could happen, it would occur far more frequently if it weren't for controller intervention.
 
luvflyin said:
Always thought they shoulda left it there, clip the wings off and make a diner out it.
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They did that with a Connie. Greenwood Lakes NJ. 4N1. The restaurant didn't make it. There is a very good restaurant in the terminal building now, and the Connie just sits there.... -Skip

 
I was in the area a few weeks ago and took this picture from our Dakota at about 3000' AGL. Ellsworth AFB runway 13 in the foreground, Rapid City Regional in the distance.

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Velocity173 said:
My brother works at a similar setup. ABI and DYS. He's said over the years he's had a number of aircraft mistake one airport for the other and they had to step in. Once had a Baron land at Dyess by accident but he wasn't on position when it happened.

While we shake our heads and wonder how something like this could happen, it would occur far more frequently if it weren't for controller intervention.
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It used to happen at BUR and WHP every now and then. A Continental 727 was trying to do it at night on a visual to 15 at BUR once. Tower caught it and got him outta there.
 
Skip Miller said:
They did that with a Connie. Greenwood Lakes NJ. 4N1. The restaurant didn't make it. There is a very good restaurant in the terminal building now, and the Connie just sits there.... -Skip

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They should put it to good use. Maybe the guy drivin the "storage" truck was there to negotiate a deal. Was that from a "wrong airport" landing?
 
Here's another one. Not an airliner. Check out KNLC and 3O8. Yup, someone headin to Harris Ranch for a $100 steak did it.
 
And another... El Paso and Biggs AAF
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DesertNomad said:
I was in the area a few weeks ago and took this picture from our Dakota at about 3000' AGL. Ellsworth AFB runway 13 in the foreground, Rapid City Regional in the distance.

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Great photo, now I don't need to find mine! And definitely an accurate presentation of how visible Ellsworth is compared to Rapid City. That picture is only about 6 miles from KRAP, and even then it's a difficult airport to see.
This is my stomping grounds so I know a bit about it and how frequently it happens. The controllers do their best, but they're not perfect and they do have other responsibilities (traffic count, other aircraft) and an aircraft that looks like it's headed for RAP could see RCA and turn and it would be all over in less than a minute or two.
 
Landed at Karpov last year ,came in from the opposite direction,or I might have landed at the AFB. Being from the east coast.
 
luvflyin said:
Here's another one. Not an airliner. Check out KNLC and 3O8. Yup, someone headin to Harris Ranch for a $100 steak did it.
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No freakin' way! That might just be the most ridiculous wrong airport landing ever.
 
I think some of us are missing the point, which I tried to make on the other thread.
Yes, we've all (myself included) BTDT, at least to a near-event.
But for all of us, or at least most, all this happened before the age of GPS and color moving maps.
Now with all that fancy tech, there is no excuse whatsoever for that to happen.
Either set up a precision approach to the runway (even if it's a visual), or at least set up the extended centerline and cross-check it (ideally do both). If you still mess up, then it's time to find another occupation.
 
luvflyin said:
Here's another one. Not an airliner. Check out KNLC and 3O8. Yup, someone headin to Harris Ranch for a $100 steak did it.
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Is it me? I don't see anything on your post. :(
 
Well, it still happens on occasion even with all the bells and whistles. To say that it couldn't happen to any of us like we're any better, would be naive. It's not like all these guys landing at the wrong airports have a history of poor judgment or anything. They're experienced crews that made a major error in judgment.

Look at the C-17 that landed at the wrong airport in Tampa. I imagine they were tired. Maybe even flew in from the ME and started their duty day 14 hrs ago. They're lined up, see a runway that looks exactly like the one they're suppose to land on and shoot an approach to it. Fatigue can make you do strange things.

I'd just like to hear the "tapes" on what KRAP tower was doing. "Delta twenty eight forty five not in sight, wind one eight zero at eight, runway one four, cleared to land." :confused:
 
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luvflyin said:
They should put it to good use. Maybe the guy drivin the "storage" truck was there to negotiate a deal. Was that from a "wrong airport" landing?
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No, not a mistake. If your google-fu is good you can find a video of the intentional landing. It looks like an airplane landing... nothing spectacular. -Skip
 
Before I soloed, the instructor warned me about the abandoned airport 10 miles east of Westerly RI - Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Charlestown RI. At the time, it looked more like an airport than today. Definitely an easy one to screw up on. The other was Chicopee CEF and Winsor Locks BDL.
 
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