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Delta Flight Mistakenly Lands at Ellsworth AFB

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Delta plane lands at Air Force base about 7 miles from the correct airport. (rapidcityjournal.com) More...

Michael Stephens
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nasdisco
Chris B 6
Flight into the Airforce base
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2845/history/20160708/0111Z/KMSP/KRAP
Whoops the hop over...

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2845/history/20160708/0410Z/KRCA/KRAP
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Cadefoster
Cade foster 6
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the rotating beacon (alternating white/green) for the Military airport different from the civilian airport?
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pappyroehrer
Bob Roehrer 3
civil beacon: green / white mil beacon: green / white-white
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bentwing60
bentwing60 3
yes
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Cadefoster
Cade foster 1
Thanks been along time since I used my wings....
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yatesd
yatesd 1
Military is a double white flash created with a split beam lens.
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pthomas745
Pa Thomas 5
Should be a group of embarrassed ATCs, too.
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jimmurray333
Jim MURRAY 5
I may be the only man alive who recalls a NWA DC-3 landing at Fergus Falls in the early 1950s en route to Fargo from MSP. The pilots, when realizing their mistake, didn't stop and proceeded on without stopping to Fargo without telling the company. A passenger, though, turned them in. I was in NWA dispatch then.
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RubenVillanueva
Ruben Villanueva 7
Does Ellsworth AFB have military controllers? If so, What were they doing? Sleeping on duty is punishable under the UCMJ. If they had seen a target lined up on their approach course or visually seen an aircraft on final, they should have started asking questions. How can they allow an unknown aircraft touchdown on their base? I believe that Ellsworth is a SAC base, huge breach of security! Time to review the LOA's, OPS letters and FAC memos!
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citationtenryan
Ryan Allen 1
Yes, Ellsworth runs approach control for both the base and RAP. I fly into RAP somewhat regularly, and almost every time you're doing a visual, both approach control and tower remind you of the closeness of Ellsworth. Having flown the visual here many times myself, I find the fact that this happened pretty troubling.
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timbeenks
Tim Bynum 0
SAC bases have not existed since the early 90s. It is a Global Strike Command base. Prior to that, it was part of the Air Combat Command.
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Egadnow
Egadnow 2
My first base, after school, was March AFB, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base with B47s, a very dangerous aircraft to crew.
We lost 2 of about 50 each year!
Even more dangerous was the SAC Commander, Gen. Curtis Lemay (i think).
We need some like him now!!!
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bees31ballard
bees31ballard 6
Can I ask a stupid question, where is ATC in all of this?
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Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 5
Not stupid at all, if they requested a visual then ATC would have cut them loose. If they requested a contact approach then ATC would have monitored and provided separation from known IFR traffic. Probably two people looking outside when should have been monitoring the instruments during the approach.
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tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 6
This isn't the first time they've done this, either. well, Perhaps the first time for DAL.

NWA (now part of DAL) did the very same thing back in 2004; was flying into KRAP and landed at KRCA. Because of that, there was a NOTAM distributed warning pilots to verify that they are on final for KRAP.. I guess DAL didn't get the memo..
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rtjorgenson
Ryan Jorgenson 4
Right, the NWA A319 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jet-errs-lands-at-air-force-base/
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sanukjim
James Wilson Jr -1
I guess they merged to put the dummies together.
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PLANESOLUTIONS
PLANESOLUTIONS 6
Easily preventable by simply loading up an approach to the runway of intended landing. Monitor the approach while flying the "visual".
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30west
30west 2
Amen P.S., electronic backup will save your bacon every time.........assuming you use it (and I hate to say, KNOW how to use it) correctly. Yes, Asiana 214 comes quickly to mind when thinking about knowing how to use it correctly.
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 2
Even being established on a published segment of an approach doesn't guarantee anything. Ask the Atlas crew going into McConnell AFB. A little situational awareness goes a long way!
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joelwiley
joel wiley 2
I seem to recall a post from a former ATC in Sacramento relating a number of times he found civilian flights for KSMC lining up on KMCC and advised FLight XYZ turn right to 270 to intersect your approach vector. Not usual, but not unknown.
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bentwing60
bentwing60 3
OOPS! My one adventure with this mistake was richly rewarded when the passengers came walking back out of the fbo chuckling to the tune of "do you know where we are!" At least they were chuckling.
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silverplate
Mike Jones 3
Everyone is quick to ask what pilots are doing and they seem to get the major blame and should as they are in charge of the flight. But the hell were air traffic controllers doing that were responsible for this flight? The flight went off track and landed seven miles from its intended destination and no controller says what are you dong Delta. Before you disagree I am a 34 year retired ATC and wonder how this happens. What were we doing?
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joelwiley
joel wiley 3
I suspect that management at KRAP asked that very question.
Interesting comment under 'wrong airport' on AV heralds report on the incident.
http://avherald.com/h?article=49adef6e&opt=0
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jbsimms
James Simms 5
"Hey Bing, Why are all these people outside pointing automatic weapons at us? Ya don't think we landed at the wrong place, do you?"

;-)
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yatesd
yatesd 3
Yes, when you do this on a military base you get a "stop alert" greeting, typically with ARFF vehicles and Security Forces blocking the offender until their intentions can be determined.
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vector4traffic
vector4traffic 2
Don't modern day FMS require you to enter the destination airport/runway and then display this when selecting the approach screen?
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biniewiczf
frank biniewicz 1
How about backing up the visual for 14 with the RNAV for that runway.... Delta must have that in their ops specs with their manual.
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boughbw
boughbw 2
Here is another question: Can the aircraft take-off/go-around after touching-down? At some point, the pilots must have seen that row of bombers and realized their mistake while still on the runway, if not prior to touching-down.

I suppose what I am getting at is whether there is a protocol for this kind of thing wherein the pilots have to keep the plane on the ground to be interrogated by the authorities at the base.
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THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
As long as you didn't touch the runway, you're not there yet...
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elpipila
elpipila 2
Having grown up there, I would have thought they would have recognized the rows of bombers in approach as nor being commercial airliners. They have a very distinctive shape.
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joelwiley
joel wiley 3
At least they didn't have a problem with a short runway like a certain SWA flight or a C-17 a while back...
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tyketto
Brad Littlejohn 1
or a certain B747 "attempting" to land at McConnell AFB and ended up at a GA airport for crop-dusters.
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Highflyer1950
Highflyer1950 2
I guess they didn't notice that they hadn't passed the FAF yet!
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alan75035
alan75035 2
They were trying to catch Pikachu.
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THRUSTT
THRUSTT 2
FAA plays that game too, they'll send them Gotchu...
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jkudlick
Jeremy Kudlick 2
Someone told the flight crew there was a Gyrados at the tower.
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grantwcooper
Grant Cooper 1
This was a long time ago and I remember a PSA night landing at KBUR and tried to land at KWHP. Both have north south runways with similar numbers back then. Thank goodness that didn't happen as the runway was much shorter and the 727 would have sunk into the surface as well as trim everything on either side.
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yusefsuperrailcargo
Yusef Elnahas 1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Delta A320 at Rapid City on Jul 7th 2016, landed on wrong airport

A Delta Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration N333NW performing flight DL-2845 from Minneapolis,MN to Rapid City Regional Airport,SD (USA) with 130 passengers, was on approach to Rapid City Regional Airport's [ICAO: KRAP] runway 14 but aligned with Rapid City's Ellsworth Air Force Base's runway 13 and landed safely on the runway of the Air Force Base.

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 2.5 hours, then performed the short hop of about 6nm from Ellsworth [KRCA] to Regional Airport.

The NTSB announced they are investigating the occurrence, when the A320 landed at Ellsworth AFB instead of Rapid City Regional Airport.

http://avherald.com/h?article=49adef6e&opt=0
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aeroflyer
aeroflyer 1
Ref my earlier comment:

On the late evening of June 20, 1980 - A Delta Air Lines 727, bound for Tampa, Florida (TPA), mistakenly lands at MacDill Air Force Base instead. At the bottom of the stairs was a large welcoming group of USAF Security Police and K-9's.
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joblai
joblai 1
I guess they didn't put a ring around it. That FMC can be useful sometimes.
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liko2k
Jakub Bialek 1
Erm....No communication with the ATC or airport tower to tell them they are on the wron approach??
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aeroflyer
aeroflyer 1
Didn't Delta Airlines do the very same thing a few years prior? I remember an event where a DC9/MD80? landed at MacDill AFB at night. They were met by USAF Security and K9's.
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saskip
Saskia Priscilla Oberholzer 1
Now THAT'S a funny mistake. But then again... How the passangers will do checkout and calling a Taxi?

;-)
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jmilleratp
jmilleratp 1
Doncha hate when that happens? :-)
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margeauxk
Margeaux K 1
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Delta Flight Lands at Air Force Base by Mistake

Oops: Some 130 Delta passengers were stuck on the tarmac for hours Thursday night after they were mistakenly taken to a military airport instead of a civilian one.

http://www.newser.com/story/227838/delta-flight-lands-at-air-force-base-by-mistake.html
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WilliamDooris
William Dooris 4
You should see what we do to Navy fighters that mistakenly land on a similar Aircraft Carrier mistaking it for their own
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dwiggins01
Scott Wiggins 2
Gotta check that hull number...an unlit Fresnel lens is a dead giveaway too.
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dodger4
dodger4 1
Storm in a teacup. Next....?
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amiablebird
Ed Merriam 1
I presume this is what happens when the lighthouse and the aircraft carrier from the joke have their positions reversed?
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Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Is Delta revising their old slogan, "Delta Will Get You There", well somewhere!
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sixtycg
Steve Cook 2
They have. It's now "Delta will get you there—under armed escort!"
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Victorcabrales
Victor Cabrales 1
What happened to the FMS? What happened to the ATC? Tower? Markers? Amazing this happens on this modern day. Also, none of this is in the news. hhhmmmmm.
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Victorcabrales
Victor Cabrales 1
Following up on my post.....I wonder how does the FAA investigate these incidents. Is it up to the Airline to sanction the pilots and everyone else involved or does it end with the "oops".
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timbeenks
Tim Bynum 1
It made the news here in Kansas. Especially since a little over 3 years ago, we had a Boeing Dreamlifter land at Jabara Airport, short of McConnell AFB.
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Moviela
Ric Wernicke -1
Probably a defect in the iPad they were using to navigate because it is so much easier to operate than the system built into the airplane.
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 2
Im confused by this statement....
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Davenit
Davenit 2
A lot of pilots now use mobile devices to learn about the arrival airport. Apparently, Ric thinks the old paper charts were easier to use and understand.
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 2
I just thought "Using to navigate" was an interesting term as if the iPad has some control over navigating the airplane. Our airline uses iPads and they are quite useful for charts and makes it much easier to see the whole picture and flip between charts.
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Davenit
Davenit 1
I don't know what else was meant. If Airbus now makes iPad controlled planes, I must have missed it!
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PSUAth
Supercool Marmol 1
i don't think in terms of autopilot capabilities. They do have the ipads with the various navigation charts, instead of that huge book of all the airports and flight paths and such.

so yes, you can use an ipad to navigate, the same way that a garmin GPS or your trusty AAA road atlas could help you navigate your way around the US
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 1
The original post suggested that there was a system already built into the airplane that could have been used instead of an iPad. Or that a defect in the iPad could result in landing at the wrong airport. I don't think road trippin' uses quite the same navigation since most guys just plug in the fixes in the FMS, but yes, in the terminal area for approaches we do get that information from the iPad.
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num1tailhooker
Lucio DiLoreto 0
Cannot cure stupid.
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damavab
Duncan Mulholland 0
Pilots must have been collage graduates, thinking about their loan debt
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chalet
chalet 0
Not even doing the best carpet dancing pirouettes is going to save their skin.
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THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
C'est la vie...
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watkinssusan
mary susan watkins 0
HEY..EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES..EVEN COMPUTERS ARE NOT PERFECT!
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sanukjim
James Wilson Jr -2
Delta pilots seemingly can't find their butts lately.
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THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
That could be a problem with ish piling up!!!
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caddycapt
John Shearer -3
Hey Wilson, you have obviously never been there in so many ways - just keep to the facts and understand that projecting one's own personality onto another is unfair to the projectee and telling of the projector - got it?
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sanukjim
James Wilson Jr 1
Screw you AH
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joelwiley
joel wiley 3
Badgering the witness, Counselor?
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THRUSTT
THRUSTT 3
I'll bet my last yen that they weren't real Pilots, they're just Fliers...
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 3
An iPad is not going to result in you landing at the wrong airport. Now not paying attention and losing situational awareness while fixating on your iPad might. Just about every airline is using some form of mobile device in the cockpit now and this type of incident is very rare. Its not the iPad....
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bjohnson09
Bryce Johnson 2
And even if the thing fails...you STILL shouldn't land at the wrong airport. Theres a reason we learn how to fly VFR first...
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Egadnow
Egadnow -2
Very disturbing, as Ellsworth should have been talking to an airliner landing at RAP.
Unfortunately airliners landing at the wrong airport happens about each year in the USA.
Now that almost all aircraft, even J3s with a handhelt, have GPS, it seems rediculous, but it continues to happen, even with ATPs with equipment that costs more than many personal aircraft.
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