So much for Homeland Security

[Van Helsing]

A Northwest Airlines flight that was headed to Rapid City, South Dakota, landed a few miles off course at Ellsworth Air Force Base, and passengers had to wait in the plane for more than three hours while their crew was interrogated.

Passengers on Northwest Flight 1152, an Airbus A-319 from St. Paul, expected to be welcomed to Rapid City Regional Airport on Saturday, but after about five minutes they were told to close their window shades and not look out, said passenger Robert Morrell.

"He (the pilot) hemmed and he hawed and he said 'We have landed at an Air Force base a few miles from the Rapid City airport and now we are going to figure out how we're going to get from here to there,"' Morrell told the St. Paul Pioneer Press by cell phone during the delay Saturday.

Eventually, the captain and first officer were replaced by a different Northwest crew for the short hop to the right airport.

Northwest confirmed that the crew made an "unscheduled landing."

"The situation is under review and we have nothing further to add," said Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch. He would not identify the cockpit crew, or say if the pilot made an error.

Ellsworth controls all air space 40 miles around the base and clears landings at both the civilian airport and the base.

The city's airport runway is "just over the hill" from Ellsworth, and the Northwest crew had to descend through a layer of clouds, said a base spokeswoman, Lt. Christine Millette.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.



How did it ever get near the Air Force Base - never mind Land there. Were they all asleep in the Base

 

[disneydad2]

Originally posted by Van Helsing

Ellsworth controls all air space 40 miles around the base and clears landings at both the civilian airport and the base.

So its quite probable the Air Force base was very aware of the NW flight - as they are aware of every plane that flies in and out of Rapid City.

What would you have thought about Homeland Security if the AF base had scrambled jets and shot down the 'rogue' aircraft?

 

[Van Helsing]

disneydad2 why did the Air Force base let them land - surely they must have a control tower

And another thing i don't think they would have shot them down ( once contact had been made ) but why were NO jets scrambled

A number of questions needs answered

 

[disneydad2]

Originally posted by Van Helsing

A number of questions needs answered

I agree. But your "So much for Homeland Security " comment is a leap to a conclusion completely void of those answers.

 

[shortbun]

We had a similar occurance in Columbus, Ohio a few years ago.
A DC-10 landed at the University Airport and had to be stripped
of everything except the pilot's seat to be able to take off.
Passengers were shuttled to the regional airport. sigh

These days to just let a passenger plane land on a military
base is much more scary. Glad they were there to interrogate
the crew and didn't let the passengers off. Also glad they
didn't just shoot the plane out of the air. Mistakes are made
and rushing to decisions is not always prudent.

 

[Van Helsing]

comment is a leap to a conclusion completely void of those answers.

Well we know that Homeland Security failed the plane made an unscheduled landing. Are you trying to tell me this plane just came out of the clouds and landed - was everyone at the base on a tea-break

 

[Eeyore1954]

Some good advice to consider: Beware of Trolls

 

[monkeyboy]

Ellsworth controls all air space 40 miles around the base and clears landings at both the civilian airport and the base

 

[Van Helsing]

Eeyore1954 i thought the advice was to ignore them

Guess you got your threads mixed up

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Eeyore1954
Some good advice to consider: Beware of Trolls

I read this story in the paper today. My first thought was that they probably radioed the tower and the base knew they were coming.

Planes have problems all the time and radio the closest tower to see if they can make unscheduled stops. I have heard of planes landing on airforce bases when need be. I fail to see your point as to how is this a failure of homeland security?

Sounds more like a success of the airline radio communication to me.

 

[Van Helsing]

If they were in contact why land - why not go to the right airport

Lets face it what pilot wants to have this on his record.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

What do you even know about OUR Homeland Security? How exactly do you know what transpired between the ATCT, the pilot, and Ellsworth? I love how you jump to conclussions on issues that you have no idea about.

 

[Van Helsing]

Miss Jasmine what do you think happened ??

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by Van Helsing
If they were in contact why land - why not go to the right airport

Lets face it what pilot wants to have this on his record.

Why not go right to the airport? I can think of a number of reasons, including what if they found some sort of threat, what if an instrument was not working properly and this was a faster and easier landing; not all instruments on a plane involve radio contact...

I'd think if the pilot landed here because landing at the airport would have taken longer and an immediate landing was needed, any pilot would want that on his record.

 

[Van Helsing]

Well there doesn't seem to have been anything wrong with the Aircraft.

Eventually, the captain and first officer were replaced by a different Northwest crew for the short hop to the right airport.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

So there could have been something wrong with the pilot? Perhaps the man was having some sort of medical problem and needed to land immediately. And it's quite possible that the second pilot, after witnessing this and going through the stress of an emergency landing, did not want to take over as head pilot.

VH - no offense but there are a number of possible reasons. I also read that they asked the passengers not to look outside, I imagine this may have been due to air force base vehicles, guns etc, that are normal procedure when handling an emergency plane landing and they did not want to alarm anyone on board.

I also could imagine that if there was some sort of medical issue with the pilot that if he was taken away in an ambulance that they might not want passengers to see that either.

 

[inaminute]

Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with the aircraft. So what?

If the crew were past their maximum number of work hours, they would HAVE to be replaced by a fresh crew.

My DH flies a lot and has had flights delayed (one cancelled) for this very reason.

Besides, there really aren't enough details in this story to come to any conclusion about what might have happened. There was a situation and it was handled in the proper manner. If it weren't handled properly, THAT would have been reported and you'd be complaining about an entirely different story.

 

[Van Helsing]

So there could have been something wrong with the pilot? Perhaps the man was having some sort of medical problem and needed to land immediately. And it's quite possible that the second pilot, after witnessing this and going through the stress of an emergency landing, did not want to take over as head pilot.

I also could imagine that if there was some sort of medical issue with the pilot that if he was taken away in an ambulance that they might not want passengers to see that either.

Really and why were they interrogated then.

while their crew was interrogated.

I also read that they asked the passengers not to look outside,

Maybe it was incase they took pictures with their phones

 

[monkeyboy]

Maybe it's the new AREA 51

 

[Van Helsing]

Maybe it's the new AREA 51

Yeah and the radar or personal on the base couldn't see the Alien spacecraft