Dreamliner lands at wrong airport!

[N601RX]

I'm thinking the airport manager may be looking for a free resurfacing courtesy of Boeing.   I don't think they would close the entire airport.  Our airport is only 3000' and the North 1100' has been closed for a few months due to construction work.  The workers don't seem to mind or have at least got used to the planes taking off and landing over their equipment.  It was officially closed for a few days, but I noticed several planes coming and going. 

[KSMooniac]

I'm not sure how they would accommodate if the runway needs to be fixed.  I don't believe there has been any major construction on it since I've been based there (almost 7 years) and I can't remember any for the 8-9 years prior, although I wasn't very active out there at that point.  There is a parallel taxiway but it goes up and down quite a bit compared to the "flatter" runway and I'm sure I could use it in a pinch if allowed.  There is regular jet traffic with plenty of based jets and I guess they would get enough notice to relocate prior to runway closure.  That is my fear...not having my plane airworthy before any possible closure happens!  

[201er]

Maybe Boeing will have to pay your overhaul then!

[aviatoreb]

Maybe Boeing will have to pay your overhaul then!

 

201er - wow. You are brilliant.

[Shadrach]

Ugh - that would be an expensive mistake if they need to redo the runway.

 

Maybe they could mow some grass to let folks like you with small airplanes escape?  Or maybe fly out from a taxiway?  I don't know - what do they do in a situation like this?

 

Taxiways are often used as temporary runways. Not too long ago, KOKV was down for resurfacing for several months and the parallel taxiway was used as a temporary runway...

[yvesg]

Taxiways are often used as temporary runways. Not too long ago, KOKV was down for resurfacing for several months and the parallel taxiway was used as a temporary runway...

I landed on the taxiway at KOSH.

No problem there.

Yves

[Mooneymite]

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I'm more concerned about the runway since that is where I'm based!  The director of airports stated yesterday that the runway was designed for 60,000 lb planes...not the 600,000 of the Dreamlifter!  They did a visual inspection and noted no damage, but hedged saying they would need to look again in detail in the spring after the freeze/thaw cycles.  My plane is currently hangared there awaiting an engine overhaul, and if they need to do any major repairs before I can get back in the air I might get stuck there for a very long time!

I suspect cooler temps prevented damage to the runway.

Had this happened on a hot August day, the story might have been very different.

[Mooneymite]

From AIN:

 

Dreamlifter Audio Reveals Confused State of Pilots
The NTSB opened an investigation last week into why a Boeing Dreamlifter 747-400 mistakenly landed at Wichita’s Jabara Airport on November 20, rather than its intended destination, McConnell Air Force Base some eight miles farther south. The audio between the McConnell tower and the freighter reveals the state of the crew’s disorientation, even after the aircraft was safely on the ground. The Atlas Air crew operating the aircraft for Boeing contacted the McConnell tower to signal its intent to use the Rnav GPS approach to Runway 19 Left. The crew, sounding slightly confused, queried the tower about the distance to the air force base, to which the controller replied “about nine miles.” The specially adapted 747, which is used to carry large airframe sections for Boeing, then landed straight-in on Jabara’s 6,000-foot runway, eight miles from McConnell. The crew initially thought they’d landed at Beech Field and later asked for that airport’s GPS coordinates, but soon realized these were not consistent with what the aircraft’s nav system showed. The flight crew asked tower personnel which airport might match the coordinates they did show. McConnell tower personnel finally confirmed the 747 had landed at Jabara and asked the pilots if they knew which airport they were at. The pilot responded he had a pretty good idea, but then asked, “…how many airports directly to the south of 19…are there?” The tower corrected the pilot telling them they were north, not south, of McConnell. The 747 pilot then asked the controller for the GPS coordinates for Jabara to confirm their location. A different crew was brought in the next day to fly the aircraft out of Jabara over to McConnell. Among the questions to be addressed by the investigation is why the tower controller failed to notice the 747’s low altitude as it descended into Jabara.