Plane Lands at Air Force Base by Mistake

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Northwest Airlines flight that was headed to Rapid City, S.D., 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.

 

Jeff's not really a pilot anyways. He's a secret government agent/mechanic/coldfire- cryo treatment sales rep. codenamed "Gerry"

 

I heard that this morning and thats the first thought that occured to me too.

 

I'm sure Jeff will have the inside scoop for us when he is back in town.

 

Jeff won't be in town for a while, they put him in the Ellsworth brig. They are trying to beat information out of him but he's been tough so far and won't divulge anything!

 

except for lots of info on the Coldfire process..... I understand He's taking the first orders for some cryro F-16 parts.....

 

Actually Jeff was secretly flying that space plane tak a closer look at the picture, It' him!!!

 

Man you guys are having fun.

I'm off to see the chief pilot.

See yah!

 

Just kidding. It was a couple of morons. Every profession has them. How can you make a mistake like that!

Maybe on a DC-9. Not on an Airbus where you load the runway. I will hear all about this in a month or two but there is no excuse.

Actually, I was on my way to Tampa for my one day off then back to Detroit for seven more.

Hey Dave, Any openings where you work? It can't be bad if you can afford a Vette.

 

I'm looking at 2002 - 2004 Vettes. They are cheap now since the C6 is coming out.