Scouse Express

Yep - Pity that woman couldn't have moved her Noggin out of the way.

markonline1

Totally inconceivable how this could happen! This could have ended badly. I'll be amazed if that crew fly again for Southwest.

civilservant

While I agree the flight crew are unlikely to fly again, you shouldn't be too rash to blame them - the technology can easily lead a pilot astray. You miss a single punch on the FMC and you can end up in a mountain.

(American Airlines 965)

Pulaski

Agreed, but 18 years ago it seemed more reasonable. Now people have GPSs and smart phones such that perhaps a third of the passengers on the SWA flight had the technology to ascertain that they were in the wrong place (yes, I know they aren't allowed to use it in flight, but hypothetically they could), but the aircrew apparently did not, or failed to use it/ use it properly.

Given that it is just about possible for a plane to plot it's own course from A to B, it is mystifying that the air crew could land in the wrong place by nine miles! Excuses may be given, but it is a bizarre lapse of technology and professional judgement.

Scouse Express

Apparently, the Pilots of SW have a reputation for "Flying On Visual" rather than Instruments. Hence the mess they now find themselves in.

The Photo below shows the aftermath of a Landing at Chicago Midway, a few years ago.


Jim.

Brit3964

Unless they had the wrong airport ID loaded into the FMS, which is highly unlikely given the flight plans are pre-installed before flight, it's pretty hard to get the wrong airport. Standard Pt 121 ops usually require the crew tune localizer frequencies or GPS final approaches into the system even when on a visual approach. I know I do it every time I fly anywhere.

Probably more likely they got disorientated at night and thought they had the right runway without cross-checking their instruments. Got lazy in other words.

As for crosswind landings, my favorite one was when I jumpseated in an Atlas B747-4F going into STN 2 years ago. Shitty weather, rain and wind gusts to upper 30's mph made the landing fun. I heard the cockpit radalt digital voice countdown 50..40..30..20..10.. then a hard bang as we hit the ground!

My crosswind landings are never that hard

markonline1

Sorry, but they are wholly to blame. Landing that aircraft at the wrong airport could have had catastrophic consequences. I'd like to know whct the controller was doing too. I understand they don't have radar at the airport they were Diego land on, but the controller should have been keeping a fairly constant visual on the aircraft. You would have thought he might have pipped up. Having worked in aviation for 15 years, I see a lot of these stories where the press has made more of it than actually happened to beef up the story. In this instance though, the crew have ****** up!

Brit3964

I just heard on the news that the SW crew were grounded after landing. My guess is there are a couple of pilot jobs going at SW now.

Beaverstate

Redneck Ultralight solo without instruction. Humo(u)rs yet uplifting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJhhUHDtQk

Pulaski

I used to believe that media reporting was accurate, complete, and unbiased. Then I got involved "on the inside" of a major (non-aviation) news story when I worked in the UK. During the course of the story I closely monitored the news and quickly learned that media stories may be a bizarre patchwork of information received directly from the source (e.g. a spokesman or press release) and other hard facts, supplemented with old (stale) data that often is no longer relevant. Then any gaps in the story are filled with information from other unofficial sources such as unappointed, self opinionated, busybodies, third party information of little relevance such as spurious comparisons to other situations that aren't actually comparable, and then any remaining holes are filled in with deductions, supposition, and guesswork by the journalist.

The result of this pigs breakfast is that the story, as reported, may have a kernel of truth, but it may be wrapped in layer upon layer of incorrect, inaccurate, or otherwise irrelevant information, sometimes rendering the story almost unrecognizable to someone "on the inside" who knows what the actual facts of the matter are.

In twenty years nothing has persuaded me that the above explanation is not true to some degree for the majority of media reporting.

Pulaski

Are you still longing for that DC10 experience?



And Here's the story and some more pictures.

watchamacallit

I'm a plane fan and almost crash when driving near JFK or Newark because I am constantly watching the aircraft instead of the traffic

civilservant

The first interim report was released by the NTSB for southwest incident.

1) It was dark
2) FO had only flown there once before, Captain never had.
3) Runways are nearly identical orientation
4) They flew a VFR approach

Bearing in mind all those factors, it's an easy mistake to make. Fact is, VFR at night is a bad idea. Especially if you aren't familiar with the airport environment.

markonline1

And bearing in mind 1,2 and 3, they did 4! An amazing lack of judgement!!!!

Pulaski

Perhaps the best 47 minutes of TV you'll ever see!