12172003

I hadn't seen anyone mention this as it didn't make the news (as it shouldn't have) about this WN a/c almost landing at KNUQ rather the KSJC.

http://www.wvfc.org/b/viewtopic.php?t=1647

ContinentalFan

I wonder if this claim is true! I looked at the flight path--it's not the normal approach, but it could a valid, alternate approach. I wish I could search the www.flightaware.com database by date to see if there are other flights that follow this path.

12172003

Look at airnav.com for the approaches into KSJC. It is definitely not a normal approach as they are descending straight into KNUQ and then climbing. Approaches to land take you down to the airport you are trying to land at and never take you up. The *visual approach* is a normal approach. it is an IFR approach but is more like a VFR maneuver as you are free to maneuver as you require as long as you stay in visual conditions. ATC doesn't know if you can see the airport or not and is vectors the a/c to do a published IAP (instrument approach procedure) which could take you way out of the way. If the pilot is in visual conditions and familiar with the territory it is often quicker, easier and cheaper to do a more direct visual approach. In this case, they misidentified KNUQ as KSJC.

justageek

The thread from West Valley Flying Club (the general aviation folks in the Palo Alto area) that the OP references pretty much describes everything in extreme detail. Pretty amusing.

It's not necessary hard to get confused (the two runways are only 20 degrees apart, and the airports are very near each other), but as the folks in the West Valley thread point out, I daresay they probably created a significant hazard for other traffic in the area when they were transitioning from the final for Moffett to the final for SJC.

lougord99

It may be urban legend, but my friend who is a pilot says that it is true ( though I could not find any confirmation on the internet ) Supposedly, a commercial airliner once actually landed at Palwaukee instead of O'hare. Palwaukee is a large general aviation airport quite near O'hare.

justageek

I think various landings at the wrong airport probably happen at least a couple of times per year on various airlines. If you have nearby airports with similar runway alignments they tend to look the same, particularly if you are relativley new to the area.

I've also read NTSB reports about general aviation aircraft thinking the street lights are runway lights and landing on highways.

SAPMAN

I remember 25 or so years ago, a commerical flight (United?) landed at a small airport about 20 miles East of PDX (Portland) by mistake. Landing was ok, with hard braking. But they had to remove all the seats and stuff to reduce weight to fly it over the PDX a few days later. Pilot was fired.

EIPremier

Wow, very interesting. If planes are landing on 12R at SJC, then you do pass right by KNUQ, but with the signature huge air ship hangars, I can't imagine anyone confusing it! It's one of the most distinctive air fields I've seen.

Looking at the flight replay, it appears the aircraft was definitely aligned to land at Moffett runway 14L. The aircraft was down to 700 ft before it made a sharp left turn and realigned with SJC runway 12R. So, it wasn't really a go-around, but it's definitely clear they were on a different heading and at a much lower altitude than they would have been had they been on a proper final approach for SJC.

12172003

I just flew by KSJC and KNUQ landing at SFO 28R. Yes, I don't understand how they mistook it for KSJC. Then again at that point of the approach, they have already (incorrectly) identified the airport and are probably more concentrating on airspeeds and alignment. I believe Part 121 Carriers have to monitor and be above glide slope even if on visual approaches. So I am guessing they had the KSJC ILS tuned in, probably not identified as they were outside of the 15 degree wide signal range, the NAV indicator (VOR head) flagged and the needles pegged so how were they monitoring it? But crazier things have happened.

One of the weirder things is doing an instrument approach with a nasty crosswind. When you are looking for the airport you could end up looking 30 degrees to the left/right of the nose of the a/c (heading). You could end up looking at one airport since it is off of your nose when the one you are flying to (your course over the ground) is way off to one side.

There's a number of famous accidents. Some AF jet landed well short of a runway when they identified a McDonald's they knew about that was 1/2 mile before the threshold. Well the one they saw was a different McDonald's. (see FAR 91.213).

A few years ago a major carrier landed at an AFB when they broke out of the clouds and incorrectly identified an airport that was a number of miles closer, looked similiar and had the same runway configurations.