Air Force blames wrong airport landing on fatigue, human error

[unhappycamper]

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2013/jan/23/5/air-force-explains-errant-c-17as-visit-ar-614036/

Air Force blames wrong airport landing on fatigue, human error
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 23, 2013
Updated: January 23, 2013 - 6:37 AM

TAMPA -- The crew of a military cargo jet landed at the wrong airport in Tampa in July, in part, because of fatigue, complacency and a lack of flight discipline, an Air Force investigation has found.

It wasn't until the cargo jet was halfway down the runway at Peter O. Knight Airport, a small flight center on Davis Islands, that the crew realized it had missed the intended landing site, 4.6 miles to the southwest at MacDill Air Force Base, according to an 11-page "Hazardous Air Traffic Report."

The report, obtained by the Tribune under the federal Freedom of Information Act, does not address why the C-17A Globemaster III was flying from Italy to MacDill, nor does it identify who was calling the shots.

But in an e-mail to the Tribune on Tuesday, the head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill, Marine Gen. James Mattis, acknowledged he was on the plane.

[TwilightGardener]

1. That's weird. MacDill is geographically pretty distinct.

Is mistaking an air force base/airport with others nearby common among pilots? Edit to add: Why would General Mattis be on a C-17?

[dballance]

2. I'm not a pilot but I can certainly understand fatigue if they flew from Italy to FL

And since the article says both airports have a runway 22 in line with one another I can overlook the mistake. The article also says this has happened before and that civilian aircraft landed on MacDill 22 in the past. Seems like a forgivable offense to me.

[rickford66]

3. it's happened before

I've worked in flight simulation for many years and have heard all kinds of scary stories from pilots and crews. Accidentally landing at the wrong airfield which is in the vicinity of the intended airfield isn't at all uncommon. They couldn't have been on autopilot though. A friend of mine who is an instructor said when his wife was doing her cross country test, she landed at a military base close to the intended public airport she was to go to.