Airport goof

More than 100 Delta passengers on board a flight bound for Rapid City, South Dakota got an unexpected surprise Thursday night when their plane mistakenly landed at an Air Force Base, about five miles north of the aircraft's intended target.

Ellsworth Air Force Base confirmed in a statement to ABC that while it was an unauthorized landing, "Base officials followed the proper procedures to address the situation and ensure the safety of our Airmen, their families and the passengers."

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

"The pilots of the Airbus A320 had been cleared to land at Rapid City Regional Airport. The aircraft instead touched down at Ellsworth Air Force Base, shortly before 7:45 p.m. local time," the FAA released in a statement to ABC News.

Col. Gentry Boswell, 28th Bomb Wing commander at Ellsworth Air Force Base, told ABC News that while the Ellsworth Radar Approach control does control the high-level airspace for approximately 40 miles from the base, the Air Traffic Control Towers at each runway control all aircraft in their local area which is a 5-mile radius up to and including 5,900 feet.

"The Radar Approach Control gave instructions to the Delta flight in this instance and pointed out BOTH runways to the flight crew to alleviate any issues with identification of the correct airport and the crew replied they had the landing runway at Rapid City Regional Airport in sight," said Boswell.

"This was a gross breach of the security of our Airfield that present[ed] a potential threat to both our Airmen and our resources," Boswell added.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/delta-plane-mistakenly-lands-south-dakota-air-force/story?id=40444218

This is what you get for flying to Rapid City, SD.

Floyd Robertson wrote:This is what you get for flying to Rapid City, SD.

I can't imagine the cost of that flight