Uncle Chô
06-21-2004, 02:54 AM
Landing incident prompts investigations
By Bill Harlan, The Rapid City Journal Staff Writer
ELLSWORTH AFB -- Two federal investigations have begun, the airline is investigating and 117 passengers now have free airfare tickets to anywhere in the continental United States after a Northwest Airlines plane landed by mistake Saturday at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
"We certainly apologize to all of those customers for the inconvenience," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Sunday.
Northwest's Customer Recovery Program will provide free airline tickets to all the passengers on board to compensate for a delay that lasted nearly four hours.
Northwest Flight 1152 - an Airbus A-319 jet - was supposed to land at Rapid City Regional Airport shortly after noon on Saturday. Instead, it landed at Ellsworth, about 7 miles to the north-northwest.
Both runways run southeast to northwest, but their headings differ by about 11 degrees.
The names of the pilot and co-pilot have not been released, but news of their wrong-runway landing was reported throughout the nation on Sunday.
"They thought they were pulling into Rapid City Regional," Ellsworth spokesman Lt. Christine Millette said. "Right before they landed, they realized, 'Oh no, we're in the wrong spot.'"
It was too late to abort the landing, Millette said.
Saturday was partly cloudy, but Millette said she didn't know what role visibility might have played in the apparent error.
After the landing, Millette said, the Airbus was directed to a spot on a runway a**** near the base operations center, far from any of the two dozen or so B-1B bombers at Ellsworth. Air Force security police "secured and monitored" the aircraft, Millette said, and passengers were told to pull down the shades on their windows. They were not allowed off the plane.
One of the passengers later e-mailed the Rapid City Journal and wrote that he did not see Air Force security personnel until 10 minutes after the landing, but Millette said base security responded as soon as the tower realized the plane was landing at the base.
Ellsworth officials questioned the two pilots. Three flight attendants also were on board.
Civilian aircraft routinely fly near Ellsworth AFB, and the Ellsworth tower supervises all air traffic within 40 miles, including civilian traffic to and from Rapid City Regional. The Northwest aircraft had not entered restricted airspace, but the Ellsworth runway is off limits except for emergencies. (An American Airlines aircraft having mechanical problems landed there in March.)
The Federal Aviation Administration already is gathering data on the incident. "The FAA is investigating, as we do any unusual event, and this certainly qualifies," FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said Sunday. "It's highly unusual."
The investigation will take "days or weeks," she said. Investigators will interview the pilots and review their medical records, flight logs and training records, as well as maintenance records for the aircraft.
The Air Force will conduct its own investigation, and Cory said the FAA will get information from Ellsworth officials.
Ebenhoch said Northwest also will conduct an investigation, but he said no additional information was available Sunday.
While the Airbus sat on the a**** at Ellsworth, Northwest scrambled to find new pilots to fly the short hop to Rapid City Regional. Getting a new crew was "the airline's call," Millette said.
Passenger Robert Morrell, a doctor from Raleigh, N.C., used the delay at Ellsworth to make a cell phone call to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota.
He told the paper the pilots made no immediate announcement after the landing. Then a pilot "hemmed and hawed" and announced, "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 said most passengers assumed the pilots had made a mistake, but Ebenhoch said Northwest had not yet determined the incident was caused by pilot error.
Northwest Flight 1152 arrived at Rapid City Regional Airport three hours and 42 minutes late.
Someone is getting into a lot of troubles p-)
By Bill Harlan, The Rapid City Journal Staff Writer
ELLSWORTH AFB -- Two federal investigations have begun, the airline is investigating and 117 passengers now have free airfare tickets to anywhere in the continental United States after a Northwest Airlines plane landed by mistake Saturday at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
"We certainly apologize to all of those customers for the inconvenience," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Sunday.
Northwest's Customer Recovery Program will provide free airline tickets to all the passengers on board to compensate for a delay that lasted nearly four hours.
Northwest Flight 1152 - an Airbus A-319 jet - was supposed to land at Rapid City Regional Airport shortly after noon on Saturday. Instead, it landed at Ellsworth, about 7 miles to the north-northwest.
Both runways run southeast to northwest, but their headings differ by about 11 degrees.
The names of the pilot and co-pilot have not been released, but news of their wrong-runway landing was reported throughout the nation on Sunday.
"They thought they were pulling into Rapid City Regional," Ellsworth spokesman Lt. Christine Millette said. "Right before they landed, they realized, 'Oh no, we're in the wrong spot.'"
It was too late to abort the landing, Millette said.
Saturday was partly cloudy, but Millette said she didn't know what role visibility might have played in the apparent error.
After the landing, Millette said, the Airbus was directed to a spot on a runway a**** near the base operations center, far from any of the two dozen or so B-1B bombers at Ellsworth. Air Force security police "secured and monitored" the aircraft, Millette said, and passengers were told to pull down the shades on their windows. They were not allowed off the plane.
One of the passengers later e-mailed the Rapid City Journal and wrote that he did not see Air Force security personnel until 10 minutes after the landing, but Millette said base security responded as soon as the tower realized the plane was landing at the base.
Ellsworth officials questioned the two pilots. Three flight attendants also were on board.
Civilian aircraft routinely fly near Ellsworth AFB, and the Ellsworth tower supervises all air traffic within 40 miles, including civilian traffic to and from Rapid City Regional. The Northwest aircraft had not entered restricted airspace, but the Ellsworth runway is off limits except for emergencies. (An American Airlines aircraft having mechanical problems landed there in March.)
The Federal Aviation Administration already is gathering data on the incident. "The FAA is investigating, as we do any unusual event, and this certainly qualifies," FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said Sunday. "It's highly unusual."
The investigation will take "days or weeks," she said. Investigators will interview the pilots and review their medical records, flight logs and training records, as well as maintenance records for the aircraft.
The Air Force will conduct its own investigation, and Cory said the FAA will get information from Ellsworth officials.
Ebenhoch said Northwest also will conduct an investigation, but he said no additional information was available Sunday.
While the Airbus sat on the a**** at Ellsworth, Northwest scrambled to find new pilots to fly the short hop to Rapid City Regional. Getting a new crew was "the airline's call," Millette said.
Passenger Robert Morrell, a doctor from Raleigh, N.C., used the delay at Ellsworth to make a cell phone call to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota.
He told the paper the pilots made no immediate announcement after the landing. Then a pilot "hemmed and hawed" and announced, "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 said most passengers assumed the pilots had made a mistake, but Ebenhoch said Northwest had not yet determined the incident was caused by pilot error.
Northwest Flight 1152 arrived at Rapid City Regional Airport three hours and 42 minutes late.
Someone is getting into a lot of troubles p-)