Old 11-22-2013, 12:09 PM
  #122  
hockeypilot44
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Joined APC: Jul 2008
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Originally Posted by MaydayMark View Post
IAD (Dulles) & KADW (Andrews Air Force Base)

They're only 30 miles part and both have North/South runways!*? It could be easy to confuse them on a visual approach?

MIA & FLL look similar?

It would be a biotch to think you were landing in SEA but actually land in SLC?

The list is endless but we get paid to PAY ATTENTION and land at the CORRECT one.

What's next? ... Maintenance "accidently " mounts a 727 tire on my 747? I mean "it could happen to anybody." They look really similar and they're right next to each other on the tire changing rack!

We all realize that the news media doesn't know much about aviation and frequently gets FACTS wrong but this article makes the pilot (Capt?) sound pretty confused?

Jumbo jet mistakenly lands at small Kansas airport
Years ago a United aircraft landed at Fort Lauderdale Executive instead off FLL. Landing at the wrong airport is a big deal, but I stand by my statement that I can see how it can happen. Northwest had a DC-10 land at Brussels instead of Frankfort about 15 years ago. Forget different airport, they landed in a different country. FWIW, they knew they weren't landing in Frankfort, but they were dis-oriented and decided best to figure it out on the ground. ATC had a huge hand on them ending up at wrong field. I know a Chautauqua flight landed at Elkhart instead of Soutbend about 12 years ago. A Northwest 320 landed at an airforce base instead of Rapid City in the last decade. These things are easier to do than you think. It will happen with no navaids, an unfamiliar airport that's not in your datatbase, at an airport with a similar layout with marginal weather and fatigue.
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