Hello mongolia-ga,
I?ve found a couple of articles that confirm the incident about the
Northwest airlines flight bound from Detroit to Frankfurt landing in
Brussels instead. They even confirm that the people in the cabin
realized the mistake when the captain didn?t. I found an interesting
research paper that addresses the issues involved in this kind of
pilot errors.
To answer your second question about ?does this type of thing still
happen? I found a website that gives you a long yearly laundry list of
airline mishaps. I also found another Northwest airline incident of
landing at the wrong airport in 2004 and a variety of articles that
commented on what happened.
This was an interesting search and I hope you?ll not get too
apprehensive because of my findings.
All the best.
~ czh ~
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WRONG LANDING 1995 ? DETROIT ? FRANKFURT - BRUSSELS
===================================================
http://www.thirdamendment.com/wrongway.html
The Legacy of Douglas Corrigan: "Wrong Way" Landings By Commercial Airliners
By Jol A. Silversmith
June 2004
This website briefly summarizes previous "wrong way" landings by
commercial airliners, not including deliberate/emergency landings;
landings on the wrong runway at the correct airport; and approaches
aborted before the wheels touched the runway - the latter two of
which, at least, would markedly increase the length of the list! (For
example, two relatively well-known incidents of aborted approaches are
an Air Canada A319, which on August 23, 2003 aborted an approach to
the wrong airport in Kelowna, British Columbia, and a British Airways
757, which on September 18, 2000 aborted an approach to wrong airport
in Tonsberg, Norway.)
To the best of my knowledge, there is no single source for this
information, but such incidents often receive at least brief mention
in the media, and some are entered into the NTSB accident database.
When possible, I have provided a link to an online account of each
incident. Additions and corrections are always appreciated.
-----------------
September 5, 1995 - A Northwest Airlines DC-10, bound for Frankfurt,
Germany, mistakenly landed in Brussels, Belgium, approximately 200
miles off course. (In this case, air traffic control has been blamed
for providing incorrect flight plan data to the pilots.) See Don
Phillips, "U.S. Jet Bound for Germany Mistakenly Lands in Belgium,"
Washington Post, October 1, 1995.
***** This website provides dozens of listings of wrong landings that
will give you an answer about the frequency of this type of incidents.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.cabinfactors.com/pages/CockpitCabinCrewPerformance.htm
Cockpit/Cabin Crew Performance: Recent Research
Published in the Proceedings of the 48th International Air Safety
Seminar, Seattle WA, November 7-9, 1995 sponsored by the Flight Safety
Foundation, International Federation of Airworthiness, and the
International Air Transport Association.
Aboard an airliner, the flight-deck and the cabin crews are
responsible for the same goals: the safety, efficiency, and
productivity of the flight. In spite of these common goals, the two
crews have evolved into two distinct cultures. The same cultural
isolation felt by those island dwellers is experienced in the real
world by crews on the commercial aircraft of today. This separation
has resulted in communication and coordination problems between the
two groups which can jeopardize flight safety (Chute & Wiener, 1994;
1995).
Most recently, in September, a DC-10 bound for Frankfurt inadvertently
landed in Brussels despite the fact that both passengers and flight
attendants were apparently aware of the error through cabin map
displays (Phillips, 1995). According to this report, although the
flight attendants were disturbed about the change of flight path, none
of them contacted the pilots. Moreover, some of them speculated that
they were being hijacked, but still did not attempt contact. When
they finally began to seriously consider contact, they demurred
because of their interpretation of the ?sterile cockpit? rule which
prohibits unnecessary conversation below 10,000 feet. The pilots were
aided in making this mistake by a series of errors from air traffic
control and their own expectation bias. Consequently, they were
unaware of their error until they broke through the cloud cover at the
outer marker. As in the Kegworth and Dryden accidents, the cabin crew
had knowledge which could have influenced pilot decision-making, but
still deferred to the expertise of the pilots and the authority of
federal regulations
***** This is a scholarly paper with lots of citations and an
extensive bibliography that attempts to explain the factors that lead
to the type of incidents you?re asking about.
==========================================================
WRONG LANDING 2004 ? ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE ? RAPID CITY
==========================================================
http://www.militarycity.com/discussions/archive/index.php/t-3026728.html
http://www.militarycity.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=3026728
Passengers Told Not To Peek When Flight Lands At Air Force Base
Jun 20, 2004 5:03 pm US/Central
St. Paul (AP) Robert Morrell wondered what was up after his Northwest
Airlines flight touched down.
Nobody from the flight crew got on the intercom to welcome passengers
to Rapid City, S.D. He looked out the window and saw barracks-like
structures and military officials. And then the crew told passengers
to pull down their window shades.
Turns out it wasn't Rapid City Regional Airport. It was Ellsworth Air Force Base.
***** Read the rest of the article for an explanation of the circumstances.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040622-125046-3303r.htm
FAA investigates wrong airport landing
Eagan, MN, Jun. 22 (UPI) -- Northwest Airlines is cooperating with a
Federal Aviation Administration inquiry into why an Airbus A319 with
117 passengers landed at the wrong airport.
The pilots told Air Force officials they were in contact with Rapid
City air traffic controllers on their approach and landed on the first
runway they saw after descending through a cloud.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.bratsatv.org/milliwatt/mw_p7_2004_10.html
Wrong-airport pilots axed
Northwest fired the pilots who mistakenly landed last June at
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota instead of the Rapid City
regional airport 7 miles away. The carrier originally designated the
pair "held from service" while the Federal Aviation Administration and
company management investigated the incident. The fired pilots -- whom
neither their union nor management would identify -- are taking the
matter to grievance procedures, Will Holman, spokesman for the
Northwest Air Line Pilots Association, told the Associated Press. "We
believe the punishment is excessive," he said. "Since the incident,
charts and navigational databases have been modified to clearly show
both." He said there "have been several previous instances" of pilot
confusion between the base and the airport, but none involving
Northwest pilots.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/001837.php
June 20, 2004
Northwest Airlines: We Get You There ... Eventually
How did something like that happen? After all, pilots have to be in
contact with the flight tower on approach, and that assumes that
someone is watching the radar screen. Didn't the tower let them know
they were descending too short for their runway? For that matter,
didn't the lack of terminal facilities and the plethora of fighter
jets give the pilots an idea that they may be landing at the wrong
facility? Of course, two Northwest pilots made national news a few
years back when they got pulled over for FWI -- flying while
intoxicated -- when airport personnel at their departure point
notified security officers at their arrival point that they were
drunk. Somehow, one has to suspect tht alcohol played some part in
yesterday's misdirection.
***** You can read the rest of the blog entry and the many comments made on it.
======================================
WRONG LANDINGS AND OTHER MISADVENTURES
======================================
http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/callback_issues/cb_304.htm
What Is Wrong?
Wrong also describes a situation in which someone goes in an
unintended direction or makes an erroneous decision. The fix for that
sort of wrong can be a bit more challenging. Someone has to recognize
that something is amiss. Someone has to figure out what is wrong.
The people who submitted the following reports went in unintended
directions or made erroneous decisions, but they also did something
right. They shared their lessons so that the rest of us wouldn't have
to "go wrong."
***** Here are some personal stories of how pilots ended up at the wrong airport.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003-12-23-weird_x.htm
12/23/2003
Travelers in 2003 found it's a surreal world
Travelers faced new challenges this year. Fliers had to cope with a
power outage in New York, SARS masks in Singapore and shoeless
shuffles through airport security checkpoints. But for some, trips
became downright strange. USA TODAY business travel reporter Chris
Woodyard compiled this report on 2003's offbeat news from the road.
***** Here you can review a whole year?s worth of strange airline
incidents, not just wrong landings.
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