Wrong Airport Epidemic

After the recent headlines about two large transport category aircraft unintentionally landing at the wrong airport, it may seem as if this issue has only recently become a problem. However, there are several documented occurrences of transport airplanes landing at the wrong airport. See a full list here. A scenario that I can attest to occurred back in 2004 when a Shuttle America Saab 340 destine for University Park Airport in State College, PA mistakenly landed at Midstate Regional Airport in Philipsburg PA.  In this circumstance, there were eight people aboard the aircraft and the runway at Midstate regional airport was sufficiently long for the Saab 340 to safely take off and land, therefore averting disaster.

 Earlier this summer, I made a stop at the University Park Airport on my way to White Plains, NY. From my observations, there are several factors that could have led to this mistake.  The area where this incident happened is primarily surrounded by a large concentration of forests that lack in well-defined landmarks. Additionally, the unique placement of both of these airports in relation to the surrounding terrain can cause confusion. Midstate Regional Airport is located on the top of a bluff whereas the University Park Airport is located in the valley below. During my trip, I remember thinking for a brief period of time that the Midstate Airport was in fact University Park Airport. I remember being suspicious due to the distance I had expected to cover being less than what I had actually covered at that point. Eventually, by consulting my sectional chart and avionics equipment, I was able to determine that I was in fact approaching Midstate instead of University Park. A primary cause of confusion was the similar orientation of the airport runways and similar size of the airport. In a larger and faster aircraft, pilots would not have ample time to consult sectional charts and cross check with the visual references they see outside as they fly.  Additionally, the altitude at which larger aircraft fly prevents intricate landmarks from helping positively identify the correct airport.

            Landing and the wrong airport poses several hazards and operational issues. Safety is greatly jeopardized due to the potential of landing at an airport with an inadequately long runway. Runways that are too short can cause the aircraft overrun the runway resulting in passenger and civilian harm.  Repositioning passengers after such an event causes operational headaches. Additionally, getting approval to depart from an airport that is not normally served by the company requires research and planning to ensure that the movement of the aircraft can be done safely. Finally, large passenger aircraft in the traffic pattern for an airport that the pilots are unaware that they are landing at causes safety issues for other aircraft in the area.

Personally, I believe that there are steps that can be taken in order to minimize the probabilities of landing at the wrong airport. Research can be done to identify airports in close proximity that have similar runway orientations and other factors that could cause an incorrect identification of that airport. Notations can then be made on sectional charts and in GPS databases on board the aircraft to alert pilots of this potential. Another step that can be taken is providing a means of positive identification for any airport that is served by scheduled passenger aircraft. Placing a marking on the runway, a special light, or marking at some point on the approach path would allow pilots to positively identify that they are landing at an airport with scheduled service. Finally, including confirmation of the correct airport into checklists might help as well. 

In light of the recent Southwest 737 landing at the wrong airport in Missouri, airline management has decided to suspend the two pilots involved in this incident. As a pilot myself, I agree that a temporary suspension is necessary, however I don't believe that it should lead to the termination of their jobs. This opinion is largely dependent on the cockpit voice recorder to determine what caused the confusion and if there was any unnecessary behavior in the cockpit. If the pilots were legitimately confused and had a valid line of thinking causing them to land at the wrong airport, I don't think that it is necessary for them to be fired. Remedial training should be provided and the aviation community should focus on ways of preventing future occurrences such as this one.

Landing at the wrong airport could potentially become a catastrophic event. Therefore, I feel that this is an issue that needs to be brought to the front within the aviation community and corrected before an unfortunate result was to occur.