So much for Homeland Security

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by Van Helsing
Well i'm more inclined to believe him

if you want to convince anyone that it's a big deal,,put forth some facts rather than speculation on your part

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by Nebsky
I work for an airline and it happens sometimes, especially when there are two airports in the same area with the same controllers vectoring both airports.

VH
Approach control and Tower are on separate radio Frequencies.
Approach control vectors them to a final approach then tells them to switch to tower at the outter marker, usually about 6-7 miles from runway. Some regional airports in the US do not have towers. The airliner contacts on a unicom freq, to announce intentions. Possibly this is the case with Rapid City. I dont know. There could be as many as 4 or 5 different frequencies to use for ground to plane contact. If you figure that each radio freq is used to contact the plane and tried at least 2 times on each one, the plane would have already landed. As stated above, 7 miles is covered very quickly. There would have been absolutely no way to scramble fighters unless they were sitting alert at the end of the runway. Besides that, Ellsworth is a bomber base. I dont believe they even have fighters based there, but I may be wrong.

Ill wait to hear the final results of the investigation. No reason to get all bent out of shape and try to vanquish someone without all the details of what transpired.

thanks for this explanation...it sounds much more plausible than the shadowy explanations of wrongdoing offered by others...

 

[we3luvdisney]

Here's an article, from the Rapid City Journel:



Pilots 'held from service' after errant plane landing

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) - The two pilots at the controls of a Northwest Airlines Airbus when it landed at the wrong airport in South Dakota will be kept from flying pending an investigation, an airline spokesman said Monday.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said the two pilots "have been held from service pending the outcome of the review." Further details on the pilots were not released.

Northwest and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating why the flight carrying 117 passengers to Rapid City, veered off course and landed at nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base on Saturday, Ebenhoch said.

The FAA investigation is likely to take several weeks to a month, spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said.

"We have a lot of tapes and data to pull, and we need to get information from the military," Corey said. "We intend to take our time and do it right."

Flight 1152 from Minneapolis to Rapid City landed at Ellsworth at 12:15 p.m. Saturday. The plane remained on the ground for more than three hours as the pilots told Air Force security officers what went wrong and a new crew was dispatched to continue the flight to Rapid City Regional Airport.

Meanwhile, the military said the runway at Ellsworth was closed to air traffic when the plane landed there unexpectedly. Lt. Christine Millette said three contractors were painting on the runway when the plane was making its descent.

"They were off the runway in plenty of time, and no one was injured either on the plane or on the ground. It was just because it was closed they weren't expecting a flight, and nobody was expecting an incident where there could be a close call," Millette said.

Millette said the pilots told base officials that they were in contact with Rapid City controllers on their approach when they descended into a cloud. When the plane came out of the cloud, the first runway the pilots saw was the one at Ellsworth.

Millette said the two runways are about 7 miles apart but parallel to one another.

"We knew the plane was in the area," Millette said. "Once they were on the ground they realized they were in the wrong place, but it was too late."

 

[Van Helsing]

Thanks we3luvdisney for the update