Have you ever landed on the wrong runway?

[201er]

First the DreamLifter, now the 737. Makes me wonder how our GA Mooney pilots compare? Share your wrong airport and wrong runway stories here.

 

I've had one where I was approaching the right airport from the opposite direction (mixed up 19 and 1 I think) but broke off and went around the pattern on short final when I spotted the wrong numbers! Another was at a towered airport where I set up final for an intersecting wrong runway. Tower said I could land on that runway instead but I was too embarrassed and said I was just on a tight base for the right one. I may have occasionally had trouble sorting out complex parallel runways but ask tower for help or figure it out as I get closer. Done pretty well otherwise.

[Skybrd]

Landed on the wrong runway at Concord, Ca airport and tower didn't say anything until I was on the ground. I had my hands full flying a Experimental Cassutt racer. This was over 30 years ago, the tower didn't seemed bothered over it. It was a fun airplane and flew like a fighter with only 85 hp.

[carusoam]

This was a serious challenge before I got so many GPS' in the cockpit.

I'm sure it happens less frequently today than before.

Of course now that everyone can video and broadcast from a pocket sized device, the reporting has become more popular.

Best regards,

-a-

[scottfromiowa]

instructor taught me to look at the compass on final. GPS with extended runways makes this hard to do.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Thankfully, this one hasn't bitten me yet. 

[JohnB]

Ok I admit, I just almost did this. Was doing a gps approach into Camarillo from the ocean when I saw "the" airport right in front of me, perfectly aligned at around 2 miles, and I was over 1000 feet above the airport, but on the glide slope, so I assumed something was strange with the glide slope and descended faster. The controller asked me to report 5 mile final, and I told him I thought I was within 2 miles, and he advised me that I was looking at Oxnard not CMA! and I climbed back up cheesily with a yes sir attitude and did the right approach slope, but if he hadn't said anything, I would have landed at Oxnard for sure.

[midlifeflyer]

instructor taught me to look at the compass on final.

And if you have a heading bug, put it on the numbers (good for take offs also).

What surprises me most about these incidents with carriers is that I thought it was pretty much SOP to either load an approach or tune in the localizer when available, even when flying the visual.

I came close once or twice, but not since adopting these techniques myself.

[kerry]

I did the same thing at Concord.  The tower wanted me to land on a runway that looked like a small taxi way compared to the nice long and wide runway I landed on.  If your not familiar with concord its very deceiving.

[rainman]

34 years ago as a passenger in a Cessna 177 flying on a partly cloudy night from Michigan to Florida with no GPS or Loran, we navigated by VORs and landed at the wrong airport a few miles from Zephyr Hills on a skydiving vacation. Everyone but me in the plane was a pilot, and the guy in the right seat was handling the navigation....not his proudest moment. It was midnight and nobody was there so once we realized the error (as soon as we taxied to the terminal and saw the name) we taxied back to the runway and headed direct to the drop zone at Z-Hills and the Navigator bought the beer that night.

[FloridaMan]

Dial in your HSI to the runway and hit the OBS button on your GPS for an extended centerline.

[Awful_Charlie]

Was out on a local flight from Bristol one day with the weather closing in. Whilst near Exeter I could see the squalls running in, so agreed a diversion to Exeter. Cleared for a visual onto 26 joining from a wide left base, the rain cloud progressed to the threshold of 08 whilst I was on base, I turned in too early and lined up for final on the (what has subsequently become disused) 30.  There was a small commercial on the taxiway, and the tower controller saw what was happening. He expedited the commercial and cleared me to land on 30, making it down and stopping just in time to turn around before the deluge hit.

 

Lack of briefing (I didn't expect to be landing there) and visual confirmation bias (it was the first runway I could line up with) as well as a self imposed pressure to get down.  Nowadays, when making a visual to somewhere with multiple runways, often use the OBS funtion of the GPS to get an extended final line, and normally set the heading bug to the expected runway heading

 

Spent an hour on the ground whilst it hosed it down, and then a friendly radar service back to Bristol dodging the back end of the thunderstorms.  Certainly not a usual type of flight!

[Alan Fox]

Was going to Ovid and programmed the wrong ID in the GPS , ended up at Genneseo about a hundred miles away , I knew I screwed up when the runway was 5000 feet of turf , instead of 2000 feet of asphalt , Landed there anyway , ended up getting a tour of a hanger that had a DC3 , B26 , B17 , and everything in between ...... was a cool mistake........   

[Shadrach]

Never landed at the wrong drome or runway, but I have brain farted my position calls before. i.e. I have on an occasion or two done something like spot the field to the North of my position and then proceed to call tower with a "N6339Q 5 miles NORTH of the field - three thousand one hundred - descending..."

The last time I did it was on a short, early morning flight about five years ago, the controller at KLNS led me to water with:

"39Q, say heading"...

"350, 39Q"...

"39Q, would you say the airport is at your 12:00 or your 6:00?"

"Um sorry, missed my coffee this morning...we're four miles south of the field, 39Q"...

[rbridges]

My CFII caught me before I did it.  Landing at PDK with a visual.  I was a little intimidated since it can be fairly busy.  I was aiming for the wrong runway when he told me to make an adjustment.  

[Mooneymite]

Going into CDK, I somehow mis-read the wind-sock.  Landed the wrong way.

 

Short runway, exciting roll-out.

[N601RX]

I had a close call early on and will not go to a unfamiliar airport without pulling up the extended centerlines on the gps. The controller politely suggested that I go ahead and start my turn to final as I passed over.

[RocketAviator]

No always landed the plane right where I pointed it never anywhere else' with and without the gear down.....

Just could not help myself..... LOL

Never have but I have had times when I was struggling to make sure and questioning myself....

[gjkirsch]

Landed at the wrong airport as a student pilot on one of the required cross country flights after experiencing an engine power problem.  Non controlled field and no one was the wiser....until now  .  Frankly was just glad to be on the ground.  They sent a mechanic to get the plane the next day and he could not find anything wrong with it and flew it home.  The next week it landed in a field off the end of the runway after a loss of engine power.  Thankfully no one was ever hurt. 

[saxrulez]

I work at a military airfield.  There is a civilian airport(that I also fly out of)7 miles away with a runway heading that is 10 degrees different.  Military airfield is runway 04/22 with the civilian one being 03/21.  I have probably seen dozens of civilian aircraft start approaches and wave off once they see the airfield full of helicopters.  I could see it easily happening to almost anyone.

[fluffysheap]

Saxrulez: Is that Port Angeles (KNOW) by any chance?

 

I've experienced quite a few of these follies.

 

First, as student pilot with instructor on board, landed wrong parallel runway at Boeing Field KBFI.  It was early in my PPL training, I had the controls, but instructor was doing the radio.  To this day, not sure how the mixup happened.  Tower was understanding about it since no disruption to their operations occurred.

 

Second, as student pilot doing practice solo, almost flew to Sea-Tac instead of Boeing.  They both have long parallel runways oriented more or less in the same direction.  Realized it before entering the Class-B airspace.

 

Third, doing complex training with (a different) instructor on board, flew the wrong way in the traffic pattern after being advised of conflicting traffic.  Instructor had the controls.  It was similar to this: http://www.aopa.org/AOPA-Live.aspx?watch={384817B3-70C4-4147-9C4C-2A5517FD5DEE} except without the spin.  Tower wasn't happy.

 

Fourth, I've flown to the right airport, but said the wrong airport name in CTAF calls.  Turned out not to matter as nobody was there.  This happened after I changed where I was going (fuel stop, made better headway than originally planned so I stopped farther along the route) and said the original destination's name in the calls.

 

As a special bonus close call, while on my long cross country as a student pilot, some bozo at an untowered airport decided to take off opposite direction of traffic (three other planes in the pattern), with a tailwind, on the runway I was using.  Passed over him about 50 feet up.  Did I mention the bozo was a regional jet?