Atlas BLCF at Wichita on Nov 20th 2013, landed at wrong airport
Last Update: September 25, 2020 / 14:07:24 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Nov 20, 2013
Classification
Incident
Airline
Atlas Air
Departure
New York JFK, United States
Destination
Wichita McConnell Airbase, United States
Aircraft Registration
N780BA
Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifter
ICAO Type Designator
BLCF
Jabara Airport was closed, as a precaution all lights were turned off.
A tug was dispatched to Jabara to help turning the aircraft around for a runway 36 departure. In the meantime the aircraft has departed the airport and 19 minutes after departure made it to their true destination McConnel Airport.
Jabara Airport is located about 7.8nm north of McConnel Airport almost on the extended runway centerline of McConnel. McConnell Airport features two parallel runways 01/19 of 12000 feet length/3660 meters.
The FAA is investigating the occurrence.
On Nov 23rd 2013 the NTSB announced they have opened an investigation into the occurrence.
Airport Officials of Jabara Airport said they were surprised to see such a large aircraft on their runway, an inspection of the runway and airport facilities revealed there was no damage to airport property.
The unexpected aircraft at Jabara attracted a large crowd of spectators watching the departure.
On Sep 25th 2020 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause of the incident was:
the flight crew's failure to properly identify the airport and runway of intended landing. Contributing to the incident was the flight crew's failure to follow company procedures for crosschecking navigational information and visual cues to verify the airport and runway of intended landing.
The NTSB summarized the sequence of events:
The captain briefed a visual approach to IAB runway 19L and that they were to back it up with the RNAV GPS runway 19L to IAB. He informed the first officer (FO) that he expected to be high on the profile as he had the three times he had previously flown into KIAB and that it was hard to acquire the runway visually unless the approach light system and runway lights were turned up to bright. The FO did not remember the briefing containing the caution in the company's station guide regarding the three airports in close proximity to KIAB nor to remain above 3,000 feet until west of Beech Field. In post incident interviews, both pilots indicated they were aware of the NOTAM that runway 1L/19R at KIAB was closed at the time of the incident.
When the flight was about 25 miles from KIAB, and the crew contacted approach control as the airplane was leveling at 10,000 feet. Approach control cleared the flight for the RNAV/GPS runway 19L approach and to cross WITBA at 4,000 feet. When the flight was about 12 miles north of KIAB, and 4.6 miles north of KAAO, at 3,900 feet, the controller instructed the flight to contact the tower. The crew then checked in with KIAB tower and was cleared to land on runway 19L. At that time, both pilots stated that a well-lit runway was visible in the approximate location of KIAB, which they believed to be runway 19L. The captain then disconnected the autopilot, discontinued the RNAV approach, and began a slightly steeper than normal approach to the what they believed to be the KIAB runway. Neither pilot crosschecked nor verified the airport position using onboard navigation after that point. The flight crew did not recognize the error until after touchdown when they each realized the runway was shorter than expected and the airport surroundings were not familiar. The local controller had less than one minute to detect the flight's premature descent, and the minimum safe altitude warning software assumed that the airplane was intentionally landing at KAAO and therefore did not issue a warning to the approach controller.
The NTSB further detailed:
The captain was the pilot flying and the first officer was the pilot monitoring. According to the flight crew, while on the ground at John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK), the captain had preplanned for the approach by loading the flight plan into the flight management computer (FMC) for the flight to KIAB, to include entering the RNAV GPS runway 19L approach while on the ground. Prior to arrival, the captain briefed a visual approach to runway 19L and to back it up with the RNAV GPS runway 19L.
At 2109, the crew contacted Wichita (ICT) approach control, and was told to expect runway 19L. At about this time, the FO's primary flight display (PFD) started to malfunction, which required the FO to cross reference his PFD's indications with those of the captain's PFD.
At 2111:10 the flight crew requested to proceed direct to WITBA and conduct the RNAV 19L approach. The flight was subsequently cleared to descend to 4,000 feet.
At 2114:00, the ICT controller indicated that the flight was "25 miles from the airport, cross WITBA at 4,000, cleared RNAV/GPS runway 19L approach."
At 2118:45, the flight was instructed to contact McConnell tower. At that time, the flight was at 3,900 feet, 12 miles north of KIAB and 4.6 miles north of KAAO.
At 2119:05, the KIAB local controller clear the flight to land on runway 19L, which the flight crew acknowledged.
At 2120:38, according to recorded ICT radar data, the airplane landed at KAAO.
At 2121:42, the IAB local controller contacted the flight stating, "…check wheels down and expect midfield turn off taxiway Delta."
At 2121:51, the flight responded, "…4241 we might uh we'll get back to you here momentarily we're not on your approach."
At 2122:09, flight 4241indicated, "…uh yes sir we just landed at the other airport." During the subsequent discussion, the flight crew initially thought they had landed at KBEC but worked with the KIAB local controller to finally determine they had landed at KAAO.
The NTSB reported the captain had over 20.000 flying hours total, thereof 10,000 hours on type and 1460 hours in command on type. The first officer had accumulated 11,861 flying hours, thereof 2,096 hours on type.
Aircraft Registration Data
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Nov 20, 2013
Classification
Incident
Airline
Atlas Air
Departure
New York JFK, United States
Destination
Wichita McConnell Airbase, United States
Aircraft Registration
N780BA
Aircraft Type
Boeing 747-400LCF Dreamlifter
ICAO Type Designator
BLCF
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source
You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.
Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!
Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.
Send tip
Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.
Related articles
Fleet type match
Atlas B744 at Tokyo on Aug 12th 2024, hydraulic failure, tyre damage on landing
An Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration N404KZ performing flight 5Y-7106 from Tokyo Narita (Japan) to Los Angeles,CA (USA), was climbing…
Fleet type match
Atlas B744 over Pacific on Jul 28th 2024, burning smell on board
An Atlas Air Boeing 747-400, registration N487MC performing flight 5Y-8193 from Seoul (South Korea) to Anchorage,AK (USA) with 4 crew, was enroute at…
Fleet type match
Atlas B744 enroute on Jun 17th 2024, hydraulic failure
An Atlas Air Boeing 747-400, registration N406KZ performing flight 5Y-4304 from Hong Kong (China) to Anchorage,AK (USA), was enroute at FL310 near…
Fleet type match
Atlas B744 at Seoul on Jun 11th 2024, hydraulic failure and tyre damage on departure
An Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration N429MC performing flight 5Y-8692 from Seoul (South Korea) to Anchorage,AK (USA), departed Seoul…
Fleet type match
Atlas B744 at Los Angeles on Jun 2nd 2024, tyre damage
An Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 freighter, registration N429MC performing flight 5Y-8350 from Anchorage,AK to Los Angeles,CA (USA), landed on Los…
Newest articles
Fleet type match
Transat A332 at Toronto on Sep 26th 2024, loss of nose wheel steering
An Air Transat Airbus A330-200, registration C-GUBD performing flight TS-123 from London Gatwick,EN (UK) to Toronto,ON (Canada), declared PAN PAN on…
Fleet type match
Condor A320 at Kavala on Jul 11th 2021, could not retract landing gear
A Condor Airbus A320-200, registration D-AICP performing flight DE-1763 from Kavala (Greece) to Dusseldorf (Germany) with 74 passengers and 6 crew,…
Subscribe today
Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.
Pick your plan and subscribePartner
A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.
ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.
Your regulation partner, specialists in aviation safety and compliance; providing training, auditing, and consultancy services. Find out more.
AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American AirlinesUnited
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways