Pilots Often Head to Wrong Airports, Reports Show
Feb 11, 2014, 6:48 am
#16
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^ remember that well.....waaaaay back when I was younger 
IMHO, nothing tops my childhood memory of a BOAC Comet landing at the Juhu Airport in Bombay (now Mumbai) instead of the nternational Santacruz airport. About 3 miles separating both, oriented on similar compass points.
Juhu is more suited for a DC 3 sized airplanes, used mainly by a Flying Club and Auxillary Air Forces of India.
I saw this landing, the pilot must have realized his point of no return while landing...upon tochdown he got nose wheel in the grassy part, folloed by the left main gear in the grassy area at the edge, slowing it down, otherwise it would have crossed two ditches, a main toroughfare and residences.
Staye dthere for over a month, a tourist attraction no less. Tens of thousands of people turned up to see it take off on such a short runway.
Juhu is more suited for a DC 3 sized airplanes, used mainly by a Flying Club and Auxillary Air Forces of India.
I saw this landing, the pilot must have realized his point of no return while landing...upon tochdown he got nose wheel in the grassy part, folloed by the left main gear in the grassy area at the edge, slowing it down, otherwise it would have crossed two ditches, a main toroughfare and residences.
Staye dthere for over a month, a tourist attraction no less. Tens of thousands of people turned up to see it take off on such a short runway.
Feb 11, 2014, 6:51 am
#17
Join Date: Jan 2012
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This is the one at Juhu Airport that I remember:
Japan Airlines Flight 472 was a flight from London to Tokyo via Frankfurt, Rome, Beirut, Tehran, Bombay, Bangkok and Hong Kong. On September 24, 1972, the flight landed at Juhu Aerodrome near Bombay, India instead of the city's much larger Santacruz Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport) and overran the runway, resulting in the aircraft being written off after being damaged beyond economic repair.[1]
Japan Airlines Flight 472 was a flight from London to Tokyo via Frankfurt, Rome, Beirut, Tehran, Bombay, Bangkok and Hong Kong. On September 24, 1972, the flight landed at Juhu Aerodrome near Bombay, India instead of the city's much larger Santacruz Airport (now Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport) and overran the runway, resulting in the aircraft being written off after being damaged beyond economic repair.[1]
Feb 11, 2014, 10:24 pm
#18
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Feb 11, 2014, 10:34 pm
#19
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Given the numerous tales resulting from people's relying on their GPS, I'd expect flying errors wouldn't disappear. In addition to flaws in the software itself (being unaware that two streets don't actually intersect, as a land-based example) there remains the problem of programming them correctly. Wasn't the Sakhalin disaster theorized to be in part caused by the digits in the flight's coordinates being reversed? (I could google, but I'm being lazy.)
Feb 12, 2014, 7:16 am
#20
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The article says pilots are attracted by run way lights. Why don't airports have, in lights, the three letter airport code spelled out on or next to the run way?
Feb 12, 2014, 6:39 pm
#21
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Feb 12, 2014, 7:26 pm
#23
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Given the numerous tales resulting from people's relying on their GPS, I'd expect flying errors wouldn't disappear. In addition to flaws in the software itself (being unaware that two streets don't actually intersect, as a land-based example) there remains the problem of programming them correctly. Wasn't the Sakhalin disaster theorized to be in part caused by the digits in the flight's coordinates being reversed? (I could google, but I'm being lazy.)
Or you know, pilots could just be more careful
Feb 12, 2014, 7:32 pm
#24
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Why don't airports have, in lights, the three letter airport code?
I don't see how the cost would be so high, using LEDs, considering the possibilities of what could happen if landing at the wrong airport.
A question I have: does ATC have any idea where aircraft are on approach? Shouldn't they inform the pilot if he/she is in the wrong pattern?
Feb 12, 2014, 8:39 pm
#25
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Presumably the airports would end up paying for the system, but not see much benefit from it--the aircraft operator would see the most benefit from it.
Feb 13, 2014, 7:21 am
#26
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Feb 13, 2014, 11:33 am
#28
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In many/most of these cases the pilots think they are headed to the right airport and the controller thinks so too. Usually this sort of thing happens with runways that are near each other (but at different airports) and facing approximately the same direction.
Last edited by cblaisd; Feb 13, 2014 at 7:24 pm Reason: Corrected non-standard orthography the sake of future searching
Feb 14, 2014, 7:32 pm
#29
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How large do you expect those letters would have to be to be readable from a few miles away at 200 mph?
Feb 16, 2014, 5:50 pm
#30
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I don't find that answer satisfying. I meant trained to make absolute sure they are headed for the correct runway.