The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary information in its investigation into the recent landing of a Southwest Airlines 737 on the wrong runway in Missouri.
In interviews the pilots indicated the bright lights and runway orientation led to confusion on January 13.
The captain, who has been with Southwest since 1999, told investigators it was his first flight to Branson Airport. The first officer has been with Southwest since 2001 and told investigators he had flown to Branson Airport once during daylight hours.
During NTSB interviews, the pilots told investigators that the approach had been programmed into their flight management system, but that when they saw the airport beacon and the runway lights of M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport in Hollister, Mo., they mistakenly identified it as Branson Airport.
The pilots explained to NTSB investigators the bright runway lights and the fact that the runway was oriented in a similar direction led them to believe they were landing at Branson Airport.
They told investigators they flew a visual approach into what they believed to be Branson Airport and that they did not realize they were at the wrong airport until they landed.
The pilots say they had to brake heavy to bring the aircraft to a stop and then advised the Branson Airport tower that they had landed at the wrong airport.
The NTSB says it has analyzed data from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. According to the cockpit voice recorder the Southwest crew was informed by air traffic control that that they were 15 miles from their intended target, which was Branson Airport.
The crew responded that they had the airfield in sight and the control tower cleared Southwest Flight 4013 for a visual approach and landing on runway 14 at Branson Airport.
According to the cockpit voice recorder, the landing was uneventful and it was not until shortly after landing that the crew realized they had landed at the wrong airport.
No one was injured in the landing at a small airport built for light jets and private planes, but passengers smelled burning rubber as the pilots braked hard to stop near the end of the runway, which gives way to a steep drop-off.
The manager of the Taney County Airport, which opened in 1970 and doesn't have a control tower, said no 737 had ever landed there.
The two pilots, each with at least 12 years at Southwest, were placed on paid leave after the incident. A dispatcher who was authorized to sit behind the captain and first officer on the flight was also placed on paid leave.
http://www.nbcdfw.com
By: Press Release
Posted: Monday, January 13, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement today regarding reports that an airplane landed at the wrong airport in Missouri last evening. Blunt serves as Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over the safety, security and infrastructure of the country’s freight and passenger transportation networks.
“I’ve landed at this airport and it’s tough to navigate in small planes – let alone in an aircraft this size. People have every right to assume that they will arrive at their correct destination. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, I will insist that federal regulators do a thorough investigation to find out exactly what happened in Southwest Missouri.”
Blunt also serves as a member of the Commerce Subcommittees on:
Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Communications, Technology, and the Internet
Competitiveness, Innovation, and Export Promotion
Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance
Boeing 737-700, N272WN, Southwest Airlines, M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport (KPLK), Branson, Missouri
BRANSON, Mo. – A Southwest Airlines flight that was scheduled to arrive Sunday night at Branson Airport in southwest Missouri instead landed at an airport 7 miles north -- with a runway half the size of the intended destination.
Southwest Airlines Flight 4013, carrying 124 passengers and five crew members, was scheduled to go from Chicago's Midway International Airport to Branson Airport, airline spokesman Brad Hawkins said in a statement late Sunday. But the Boeing 737-700 landed about 7 miles northeast at Taney County Airport, which is also known as M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport.
Hawkins did not have information on why the plane went to the wrong airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro says the agency is investigating the incident.
"The landing was uneventful, and all customers and crew are safe," Hawkins said.
It's the second time in less than two months that a large jet has landed at the wrong airport. In November, a Boeing 747 that was supposed to deliver parts to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kan., landed 9 miles north at Col. James Jabara Airport. That plane was flown by a two-person crew and had no passengers.
The website for M. Graham Clark Airport says its longest runway is 3,738 feet. Branson Airport's website says its runway is 7,140 feet long.
Flight tracking website Flightaware.com said the Southwest flight landed at 6:11 p.m. Sunday. It was partly cloudy and in the high 50s in Branson at that time.
"Our ground crew from the Branson airport arrived at the airport to take care of our customers and their baggage," Hawkins said.
Flight 4013 had been scheduled to go from Branson to Dallas' Love Field. Hawkins said a plane was flown in specifically to Branson Airport around 10 p.m. to take the passengers and crew to Dallas, which flightaware.com showed landed at 11:42 p.m.
Hawkins said the aircraft at M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport is able to take off on the smaller runway, and Southwest expects to fly it out "as early as tomorrow morning."
The Taney County Sheriff's Office referred all calls to M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport. Messages left for comment from M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport were not immediately returned.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com
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