FlightFollowerWhen a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter Landed At The Wrong Airport (Disruption & confusion )
At about 9:20 p.m. Central Standard Time on November 20, 2013, Atlas Air Flight 4241, a Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter registered N780BA, was approaching Wichita, Kansas. Its destination was McConnell Air Force Base. Instead, the aircraft landed at Colonel James Jabara Airport, a general-aviation airport roughly nine miles north of McConnell.
Accident Facts
- Date
- 20 November 2013
- Registration
- N780BA
The mistake was not simply a matter of selecting the wrong runway. The NTSB investigation found that the crew had briefed a visual approach to McConnell's Runway 19L backed up by an RNAV approach. The pilots were aware that several airports were located close together, but during the visual portion of the approach they did not continue cross-checking the aircraft's navigation information against the visual cues outside the cockpit.
The NTSB found that the crew saw a well-lit runway in approximately the expected location and believed it was McConnell's runway. The captain disconnected the autopilot, discontinued the RNAV approach and continued visually. Neither pilot subsequently verified the airport position using the onboard navigation information before touchdown.
The problem became obvious only after the aircraft was on the ground. The runway and surrounding environment did not look like McConnell. The aircraft had landed on Jabara's 6,101-foot runway, substantially shorter than the runways at McConnell. The airport was not designed for the routine operation of a heavily loaded 747 of this type, and the aircraft remained on the ground overnight while a plan was developed for its departure.
A second crew subsequently flew the aircraft from Jabara to McConnell. Before the departure, engineers evaluated the aircraft's performance and the runway conditions. The 747 departed successfully the following afternoon and completed the short flight to its intended destination.
The NTSB later issued a specific finding rather than treating the event as an unexplained navigation error. The investigation concluded that the crew failed to properly identify the airport and runway of intended landing, with the failure to follow company procedures for cross-checking navigation information and visual cues contributing to the incident.
The post-landing radio exchange made the extent of the navigation error clear. After touchdown, the crew initially believed it had landed at another Wichita-area airport and discussed vacating the runway. Controllers realized from the crew's position information that the aircraft was at Jabara. The airport's tower was closed at the time, which added to the confusion and forced the crew and McConnell controllers to work out exactly where the aircraft was.
Contemporary reporting noted that Jabara's runway was only about 6,100 feet long, while McConnell had substantially longer runways suitable for the heavily loaded Dreamlifter. The aircraft therefore could not simply be treated as an ordinary large jet that had landed at the wrong field and could immediately depart. Engineers and the operator had to assess whether the aircraft could safely leave Jabara. A different Atlas Air crew eventually flew it to McConnell the following afternoon.
The incident became a textbook example of why visual identification needs to remain cross-checked against navigation information, especially where multiple airports are close together. The NTSB record is particularly important here because it separates the factual sequence from speculation: the crew intended McConnell, visually identified the wrong airport, landed at Jabara, and the aircraft was later recovered without injuries.