quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Many years ago, statute of limitations has probably expired, so I can confess to landing on runway 10 (Roman numeral) at the wrong airport.

Back when I was just learning to fly I heard tell of an airliner (DC-9 I think) full of passengers that was inbound to PDX from the east, at night, and the pilot mistook a (much) smaller GA airport some miles to the east for PDX and put it down there. His first clue that he'd made a mistake was when he had to use a lot more brake than normal to get the thing stopped before he ran out of runway. They had to offload everything that wasn't welded in and bring in a test pilot from Boeing to fly it back out.

Last week, the wife took my truck through the carwash while she was driving it (her car was getting oil change & she needed to go back to work).
Dropped her off to get her car & after work I went to gas station. Damn pump wouldn't stop kicking off. I got $2 (that's not very damn much) on the 1st try. Moved to another pump, got $3 more & gas started running out on the ground. Spent a long moment considering if the fill neck was plugged before deciding to check the gauge. She had also filled it up....that was WAY down my list of possible causes.

Everyone who posts on SF about snagging vintage guns brings on feelings of self butt kicking. I immediately think "damn, I had one of those and sold it"!
And then depression sets in.....

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Everyone who posts on SF about snagging vintage guns brings on feelings of self butt kicking. I immediately think "damn, I had one of those and sold it"!
And then depression sets in.....

Makes me think about that beautiful old-school 6" deep-blued Python I had way back when...

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Many years ago, statute of limitations has probably expired, so I can confess to landing on runway 10 (Roman numeral) at the wrong airport.

Back when I was just learning to fly I heard tell of an airliner (DC-9 I think) full of passengers that was inbound to PDX from the east, at night, and the pilot mistook a (much) smaller GA airport some miles to the east for PDX and put it down there. His first clue that he'd made a mistake was when he had to use a lot more brake than normal to get the thing stopped before he ran out of runway. They had to offload everything that wasn't welded in and bring in a test pilot from Boeing to fly it back out.

A few years ago, back in 2012, a big huge honkin' USAF C17 landed at the wrong airport. It was supposed to land at MacDill AFB by Tampa, instead the pilot/crew mistook Peter O Knight airport, a relatively dinky little ol' general aviation airport. MacDill and Peter O Knight are only a few miles apart and the landing strips are pretty well aligned with each other. However, one is HUGE and the other is tiny. What with USAF modern navigation equipment, impressive GPS and whatnot, charts, and multiple sets of eyes in the cockpit looking out, nobody saw, or said, anything to the pilot in time.

Rumor has it that pilot is still flying rubber dog sit out of Hong Kong to this day.

It's amazing, stunning even, the C17 was able to land in such an incredibly short length, it was also able to take off in an unusually short distance. And, they were able to reuse the plane! Phenomenal! I have no idea how much damage a 400,000 pound airplane can do to the runway of a 20,000 pound airstrip at a dinky airport, or how to fix that damage. Wow.








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quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
Back when I was just learning to fly I heard tell of an airliner (DC-9 I think) full of passengers that was inbound to PDX from the east, at night, and the pilot mistook a (much) smaller GA airport some miles to the east for PDX and put it down there. His first clue that he'd made a mistake was when he had to use a lot more brake than normal to get the thing stopped before he ran out of runway. They had to offload everything that wasn't welded in and bring in a test pilot from Boeing to fly it back out.

Something similar happened here back in 1997.

The University of Arkansas Razorback basketball team had chartered a 727 to take them home to Fayetteville, AR, after playing in a tournament in New York.

The pilot of the 727 mistakenly landed at the much smaller municipal airport in Springdale, Arkansas, 12 miles north of the correct destination. It ran out of runway, lodging the nosegear into the mud at the end of the tarmac. The pilot then used full reverse thrust to try to get unstuck, which damaged the pavement.

They ended up having to bring in equipment to dislodge the jet, repair the nosegear and the runway, and then lighten the plane to fly it back out on the shorter runway.

^^^^^^ That’s a tough phone call to make: Hey boss, the plane is broke. Really broke. You got insurance, right? And oh yeah, the runway needs fixin’ too.
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