Aircrafts Landing at the Wrong Airports

Due to the Southwest 737 that went to the wrong airport a week ago, the current hot topic on everyone's mind is: "How does a pilot actually make that mistake?" Despite what many people may think, it is actually quite easy to do and happens much more often in the General Aviation world. Many issues like complacency, lack of situational awareness, even questionable procedures, and even airports that may look similar can cause many instances like this to happen.

A similar instance in which a Douglas DC-8 landed in Iosco county airport happened because of the exact same reason as the 737 flight. The crew saw the runway going in the same direction as Oscoda's airport and also had the snow plows off to the side of the runway that they were looking for. To read more about this instance click here.

The Big problem with the DC-8 landing here, was that the runway was only 4,800 feet while the airport they were intending to land at had 11,800 feet to land and take off from. Luckily this happened in winter, so to get that 70 ton DC-8 out of that tiny airport, they just waited for a nice cold, high pressure day.

The biggest and probably most identifiable reason for this, in my opinion is complacency. Every jet that wants to fly above 18,000 feet must be on an IFR flight plan, and further more, a commercial flight like the southwest 737 must also fly an approach. If these southwest pilots were flying the non-precision approach correctly, they would have seen how far off course they were. If they programed in the wrong approach and pulled out the wrong plates, they should have verified to which airport the approach would have taken them to.

From a management perspective, the pilots should have been suspended. Not only is it extremely unsafe and a clear complacency issue, but it is also a matter of public image. As aviation professionals, we will always be in the spotlight, and if Southwest wants to maintain their image as a safe airline, it will want to show the public that they believe it was the pilots fault. Even if it wasn't, the airline will probably want a scapegoat.

In conclusion, things like this will continue to happen and will continue to make pilots look stupid if they act careless. As pilots, we should be taught to never let our guard down, especially on final approach. Thanks for reading, and as always, fly safe.

Personal Introduction

Hello everybody


My name is George Lippert and welcome to my blog. This blog will be primarily for Professor Walls senior seminar class: AVT 422, but may also be used for any current events, experiences I have had while at work or during training, or anything that may be related to aviation that I feel will belong on this blog.

I started flight training at Eastern Michigan University in November of 2011, because I finally decided that I wanted to be a pilot. I was 22 years old and had spent the past few years working full time as a pool mechanic at a local fitness center. I had absolutely no experience in the aviation industry and didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know that most airplanes held fuel in their wings.

Fast forward two years and I am now a instrument rated private pilot working on my commercial. I also managed to find a job in the industry as a Line Service Technician at Willow Run Airport. Now, I feel like I know a lot about the industry. I can say without a doubt that I learned more by working in the field than any class could have taught me. I have developed contacts in both the cargo world and corporate world of aviation and would strongly recommend to anyone reading that wants to get in the industry, to go pump gas into an airplane and see what kind of doors it opens up for you.

This is the company I work at: http://avflight.com/YIP-EAST/index.aspx

Thanks for reading, and Fly Safe