A Delta Airlines plane with 130 passengers on board mistakenly landed at the wrong airport in South Dakota on Thursday evening.
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“The Radar Approach Control gave instructions to the Delta flight in this instance and pointed out BOTH runways to the flight crew to alleviate any issues with identification of the correct airport and the crew replied they had the landing runway at Rapid City Regional Airport in sight”.
The airplane was an Airbus 320 according to KNBN. “Safety is always Delta’s top priority”, the statement read.
The Air Force said in a statement that its base officials “followed the proper procedures to address the situation” ensuring everybody’s safety.
This was not the first time airline pilots have mistaken the Air Force base for the Rapid City airport.
The crew involved has been taken off-duty.
More recently, a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Branson, Mo., mistakenly landed at a much smaller municipal field nearby in January 2014. The pilots had to brake hard when the aircraft with 129 people aboard touched down.
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And in November 2013, a massive Boeing “Dreamlifter” cargo plane landed at the wrong airport near Wichita. Delta’s website says the flight arrived at Regional at 11:31 p.m. One retired charter pilot says the runway setups may be the reason the mistake occurred. The Associated Press says the mistaken airport is “an airfield that usually sees only cropdusters”. Paul Airport without any problems and the flight continued on as planned. No, it is not that easy especially when coming in for an unplanned landing at an Air Force Base. The aircraft landed safely, Delta said in a statement on its website.
