Southwest B737 at Hollister on Jan 12th 2014, landed on wrong airport

Last Update: January 17, 2014 / 23:25:27 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jan 12, 2014

Classification
Incident

Airline
Southwest Airlines

Flight number
WN-4013

Departure
Chicago Midway, United States

Destination
Hollister Branson Airport, United States

Aircraft Registration
N272WN

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700

ICAO Type Designator
B737

Airport
Branson Airport, Branson

Airport ICAO Code
KBBG

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700, registration N272WN performing flight WN-4013 from Chicago Midway,IL to Hollister Branson Airport,MO (USA) with 124 passengers and 5 crew, was on approach to Hollister's Branson Airport [KBBG] but managed to touch down on runway 12 of Hollister/Branson's Graham Clark Airport [KPLK] about 5.5nm north of Branson Airport at about 18:11L (00:11Z Jan 13th) and stopped just at the end of the short runway with the main gear on the "piano keys".

The airline confirms the aircraft landed at the wrong airport, the landing was uneventful, ground personnel were dispatched to the aerodrome to take care of the passengers, who are all safe.

Passengers reported that the flight appeared pretty normal until after touchdown when the brakes came on really hard.

An observer on the ground reported the aircraft appeared to have been following a visual pattern obviously positioning for an approach to Branson Airport's runway 14 but joining downwind for Graham Clark's runway 12 followed by the touchdown on Graham Clark Airport's runway 12.

The NTSB opened an investigation into the occurrence.

On Jan 17th 2014 the NTSB reported that the aircraft was piloted by a captain with about 16,000 hours of flying experience and a first officer with about 25,000 hours of flying experience. The captain was on his first approach to Branson Airport, the first officer had flown into Branson one time before however in daylight. Air Traffic Control informed the crew they were 15nm from their destination, the crew advised they had the airfield in sight, and the air traffic controller cleared the flight for a visual approach to Branson's runway 14. The crew did not realize until after landing that they were at the wrong airport. The NTSB collected two hours of good recordings from the cockpit voice recorder and about 27 hours of data from the flight data recorder. In addition to the interviews with the two pilots the NTSB also talked to a Southwest Airlines dispatcher who was occupying the observer's seat. The crew reported they had programmed the approach into the flight management system, however then saw the airport beacon and runway lights that they identified as Branson Airport. They believed to be at Branson Airport until after touchdown when they applied heavy braking to stop the aircraft on the runway, then they radioed Branson Tower that they had landed at the wrong airport.

Graham Clark Airport features a runway 12/30 with 3738 feet/1140 meters length with only GPS/RNAV approach procedures published, Branson Airport features a runway 14/32 with 7140 feet/2175 meters length with an ILS approach to runway 32 and a GPS/RNAV approach to runway 14.



Metars:
KBBG 130246Z 18015G28KT 10SM SCT250 14/M02 A2970=
KBBG 130152Z 17010KT 10SM FEW250 14/M02 A2971=
KBBG 130055Z 18011KT 10SM FEW250 15/M02 A2971=
KBBG 122347Z 15012G23KT 10SM FEW250 17/M02 A2970=
KBBG 122245Z 17008G16KT 10SM SKC 17/M03 A2971=
KBBG 122145Z 16013G19KT 10SM SKC 18/M03 A2972=
Aircraft Registration Data
Registration mark
N272WN
Country of Registration
United States
Date of Registration
Hjhenkeiib lAf Subscribe to unlock
TCDS Ident. No.
FdeAk Subscribe to unlock
Manufacturer
BOEING
Aircraft Model / Type
737-7H4
Number of Seats
Qll Subscribe to unlock
ICAO Aircraft Type
B737
Year of Manufacture
Lmmf Subscribe to unlock
Serial Number
Mjibq Subscribe to unlock
Aircraft Address / Mode S Code (HEX)
M dmkn Subscribe to unlock
Engine Count
Subscribe to unlock
Engine Manufacturer
B cj bgi Subscribe to unlock
Engine Model
QqAcnjnhee Subscribe to unlock
Engine Type
F pqdqcpj Subscribe to unlock
Pounds of Thrust
neql Subscribe to unlock
Main Owner
Kineidggbf qkqlAjncdAnApdAlhgnmmjf AgfdApAhpcjnjAndhAciihilmlhdcmbkqghmbp pkAccp ecbil Subscribe to unlock
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jan 12, 2014

Classification
Incident

Airline
Southwest Airlines

Flight number
WN-4013

Departure
Chicago Midway, United States

Destination
Hollister Branson Airport, United States

Aircraft Registration
N272WN

Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-700

ICAO Type Designator
B737

Airport
Branson Airport, Branson

Airport ICAO Code
KBBG

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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