Obama's plane gets lost in Iowa

[PGT]

Tony, I think the point is the pilots may have landed where they were told, but by scehduling it happens to be the "wrong airport".

We need to WAIT UNTil the FBI, FDA and NTSB get done with this one!!

I guarantee that is what happened. I have flown into both airports and there is a major difference between them (location of terminals) and lack of the city of Des Moines! Weather has been good-decent so no breaking out at 100feet. Plus both are controlled airports so talking to Des Moines approach instead of Chicago approach at CID.

 

[tonyw]

You mean someone's trying to play cover your ass in a political campaign by blaming the pilots instead of saying we forgot to tell you what airport to fly to?

Say it ain't so!

 

[flyingmaniac]

Isn't Iowa such a FLAT state that everything looks the same?

 

[jrh]

Plus both are controlled airports so talking to Des Moines approach instead of Chicago approach at CID.

Bingo. The radio communication alone would give it away. Both are Class C airports that have their own towers and approach/departure facilities.

You can't go in to Des Moines calling, "Cedar Rapids Approach..." or "Cedar Rapids Tower..." It will be glaringly obvious which airport you're talking to.

It had to have been a scheduling/communication mix-up.

 

[jrh]

Isn't Iowa such a FLAT state that everything looks the same?

Yes, it's flat, but no, I've never thought everything looks the same. In fact, I've always found it easier to navigate in Iowa than I did in mountainous terrain out west (all the peaks look the same after a while), or the overpopulated landscape back east (all the little towns and freeways look the same). In Iowa, you can see forever and it's easy to spot cities, freeways, etc. Maybe I'm just used to it, I dunno.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

I've flown into CID and DSM numerous time (re: far far more than I would have ever liked to), and it sounds like that the pilots were given the wrong instructions on where Obama needed to be. DSM and CID look nothing alike in terrain, airport configuration, and the orientation of the city.

I would bet the blame on this likely will rest with the staff.

(biting lip refraining from commenting politically on this)

 

[Velocipede]

This type of mistake would NOT happen at the airlines.

Not necessarily. It happens every day at El Paso and Spokane. Biggs AAF and Fairchild AFB are both right next door and have similar runway configurations.

I once had a new guy...first trip of IOE. "Wanna know the secret to GEG?" I asked. "Yeah." he said.

"Don't land at the first airport you see."

Sure enough, we broke out and he lined up on Fairchild AFB.

"Remember what I told you?" I asked. "Spokane is over there."

Just about once a week you'll see an airliner make a whifferdill maneuver over downtown Spokane and you can be sure another pilot has set himself up for Fairchild AFB only to be corrected by the Approach controller.

 

[jrh]

"Don't land at the first airport you see."

Sure enough, we broke out and he lined up on Fairchild AFB.

"Remember what I told you?" I asked. "Spokane is over there."

Just about once a week you'll see an airliner make a whifferdill maneuver over downtown Spokane and you can be sure another pilot has set himself up for Fairchild AFB only to be corrected by the Approach controller.

When I was teaching out in that area, this was the classic example I used with students for why learning about "dual-peaked white" beacons for military fields actually matters.

Come in to the Spokane area at night and it's even easier to confuse the two, unless you're watching the airport beacon.

 

[Tram]

Sounds like the pilots were told where to go and those telling the pilots what to do made a lil' boo boo..

 

[Snuggle]

Thats the way Colgan does it. This type of mistake would NOT happen at the airlines.

Never say never. Not only has it happened, it's happened more then once. You just don't have enough experience yet to realize it can happen easily. You should hear some of the mistakes that have happened at Colgan, or any airline for that matter.