and you think YOU screwed up at work....

[Shankara20]

Posted on Thu, Nov. 21, 2013
Dreamlifter pilot talked to McConnell tower before landing at Jabara
By Rick Plumlee and Molly McMillin
The Wichita Eagle

The pilot of the Dreamlifter was in contact with the McConnell Air Force Base’s tower before the huge cargo plane incorrectly landed about nine miles to the north at Jabara Airport in Wichita, a McConnell spokesman said Thursday morning.

The Dreamlifter, a modified Boeing 747, landed at about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday at Jabara. It landed safely, and there was no damage to the plane, Boeing said.

The large cargo plane was supposed to land at McConnell, taxi over to nearby Spirit AeroSystems to pick up parts for the assembly of Dreamliners in Seattle.

“The tower was in contact with the pilot,” McConnell spokesman Stefan Bocchino said. They were the ones who told him where he landed. From what I understand, the guy just landed and had no clue where he was landing.”

Radio traffic between McConnell’s tower and the pilot indicated as much. Moments after the tower cleared the Dreamlifter to land, the air traffic controller told the pilot: “McConnell is nine miles south of you.”

Pilot: Yes, sir, we just landed at the other airport.”

Pilot: “Apparently, uh, we, uh have landed at (Beech Factory Airport, which is between McConnell and Jabara, just north of Kellogg and west of Webb Road).”

McConnell: “Verify. You are on the ground at Beech airport?”

Pilot: “We think so.”

McConnell: “. . .You are at Beech?”

Pilot: “Affirmative.”

McConnell: “Are you able to make an approach, correction, a departure off the airport and back in the air and to McConnell.”

Pilot: “We are working on those details, sir.”

It was soon sorted out that the plane was at Jabara.

Jabara’s runway length is 6,101 feet – almost half the length of McConnell’s runway. There were skid marks at the end of the runway where the Dreamlifter stopped at Jabara, which is near 37th Street North and Webb Road.

Boeing contracts with New York-based Atlas Air for pilots to fly the Dreamlifter. Atlas is bringing in two pilots from New York to the Air Capital to fly the plane from Jabara to McConnell.

Atlas spokeswoman Bonnie Rodney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Dreamlifter was expected to take off about noon.

But that has been delayed for about 45 minutes to an hour, said a city official.

The flight crew has arrived. But they still need to do their preflight checks before takeoff, said Victor White, director of airports.

Crews took fuel off the airplane to lighten its load, sources say, and with the light cargo load and current wind conditions, the plane is capable of taking off.

“They’ve just got enough fuel to make it to McConnell,” said Paul Spranger with Midwest Corporate Aircraft, the fixed base operation at Jabara.

Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said the Dreamlifter was bound from New York for McConnell, which shares its runway with Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems. Boeing has a permit to use McConnell’s runway.

The airplane was coming from Italy with 787 parts on board, said Boeing spokesman

Spirit makes the forward section or nose area of the jet’s fuselage. The plane that landed at Jabara is one of four modified 747s that Boeing uses to ferry parts for the new Dreamliner’s construction.

The plane has a wing span of 211.5 feet and is more than 235 feet long.

The runways at Jabara and McConnell both run north and south. The pilot landed the wayward plane coming in from the north. That’s also the direction the pilot would have taken at McConnell because the winds were from the south.

The National Transportation Safety Board is gathering information on the incident, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Jabara is closed.

“We’re on stand down,” said Shellie Foster, customer service supervisor Midwest Corporate Aviation.

Thursday morning, Foster was seeking permission from the Wichita Airport Authority to allow small planes to take off from Jabara.

Despite the Dreamlifter at one end of the runway, “we have plenty of runway for some of our smaller aircraft,” Foster said.

Airport property was not damaged, said Brad Christopher of the airport authority early Thursday morning at Jabara. “Everything looks fine,” he said.

After the Dreamlifter takes off, however, the authority is bringing in engineers to examine for possible damage.

Meanwhile, a long line of cars and sightseers filled Webb Road to see the plane. Some people were pulling into the airport to take photos.

R.J. Martin, who used to fly and helped build Denver International Airport, was at Jabara early Thursday morning taking photos.

“It’s interesting. That’s a big jet. That’s a small runway,” he said.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have tall buildings. The vertical lift is not that fast on that plane.”

Lisa Stewart stopped by after taking her husband to work.

“I’m just here to check out the plane and see how big it is,” she said. “It’s bigger than an airplane. It’s just so amazing.”

One passerby who stopped for photos said, “Who makes a mistake like that? I understand mistakes. (This one) is so public.”

Contributing: Jaime Green of The Eagle and Associated Press

 

[Etoile]

WOW. And they had to you in people with actual skill to fix that's joker's mistake!

 

[DVS]

I saw this. I talked to a pilot who said the runways were probably named the very same (he said they are named by compass direction). And because of the winds, that was one of the few times they probably landed from that direction. Still, it's a bit strange that they have someone flying such a large plane that doesn't at least have experience with the area. This can only be how they landed at the wrong airport...not familiar with the area. And, the airports are very close, so when flying such a large plane, that distance is even shorter. It might not have even reached cruising altitude before it had to land again.

But, with the instruments they have in these large planes, they can almost land themselves and if he had looked at what his instruments were saying, you'd think he could have figured out where he was. The GPS systems in our cars can do better than this guy did.

Here is another article giving you a better idea of just how large this monster is. It's a 747 with a glandular condition to make it able to carry large and unusually shaped cargo.

This story also got more press because of the size of the plane and the shortness of the runway. They said he had to apply the brakes so hard that he actually skidded to a stop. Can you imagine landing this thing, then seeing the end of the runway coming up, before you expect to?

Do you think he has a job, today?


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...amlifter-plane-stuck-tiny-Kansas-airport.html

I forgot to add that when taking off, the pilot had to hold the plane in position with the brakes, while he brought the engines up to full power. He wanted to be sure he had the necessary thrust to take off.

 

[Shankara20]

I saw this. I talked to a pilot who said the runways were probably named the very same (he said they are named by compass direction). And because of the winds, that was one of the few times they probably landed from that direction. Still, it's a bit strange that they have someone flying such a large plane that doesn't at least have experience with the area. This can only be how they landed at the wrong airport...not familiar with the area. And, the airports are very close, so when flying such a large plane, that distance is even shorter. It might not have even reached cruising altitude before it had to land again.

But, with the instruments they have in these large planes, they can almost land themselves and if he had looked at what his instruments were saying, you'd think he could have figured out where he was. The GPS systems in our cars can do better than this guy did.

Here is another article giving you a better idea of just how large this monster is. It's a 747 with a glandular condition to make it able to carry large and unusually shaped cargo.

This story also got more press because of the size of the plane and the shortness of the runway. They said he had to apply the brakes so hard that he actually skidded to a stop. Can you imagine landing this thing, then seeing the end of the runway coming up, before you expect to?

Do you think he has a job, today?


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...amlifter-plane-stuck-tiny-Kansas-airport.html

I forgot to add that when taking off, the pilot had to hold the plane in position with the brakes, while he brought the engines up to full power. He wanted to be sure he had the necessary thrust to take off.

I live in this past of Kansas and it was fun to watch all the news stations and newspaper wet themselves over this story.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I've often considered getting a pilot's license over the past 40-45 years, but for some reason, I just can't "see" me flying something of that configuration.