U.S. C-17 lands at small civilian airport by accident

[Moose47]

"The difference being, since it was US military, they will all get commendations and medals for their brave actions in the face of danger."

You are joking right?

Cheers...Chris

USAF
1991 - 2003

[Rudy]

Chris,
In your expert opinion do you think this Captain will fly again in the Air Force?

[Moose47]

G'day Rudy

It is quite conceivable that neither the Captain or Co-Pilot will see a cockpit for a long long time. The only one coming out of this unscathed will be the 'Loadie' (Loadmaster).

Cheers...Chris

[Donald]

"The difference being, since it was US military, they will all get commendations and medals for their brave actions in the face of danger."

You are joking right?

Cheers...Chris

USAF
1991 - 2003

Iran Air 655.

[Colonel Sanders]

Gonna quit using your GPS?

Didn't think so.

[grimey]

Iran Air 655.

Yea, clearly there's an overarching political imperative in portraying the threat the people of Tampa proved to the crew.

[bradley]

disclaimer: Small aircraft private pilot here ...

How do these things happen though?

I mean, did he actually get a cleared to land from the AFB tower? Would he have landed without a clearance?

The pilot can't tell a 3000' runway from an 11000' runway, really? I can see that being the case because of the nose up attitude on final maybe ... you put the nose down, think "oh shit", but if he's got weight on, maybe he decides he has a batter shot at stopping than trying to do a touch n go ... ?

Or maybe vectors from ATC got him there somehow, because the controller got confused? Still, at some point you end up talking to tower, who would kind of notice he's not seeing you out the window! And you know the C-17 has some pretty nice navigation equipment I'm sure ... even if ATC is confused, the crew should notice.

Just hard to imagine the large number of things that have to go wrong going wrong all at the same time for this to happen ...

Yes, it's called the swiss cheese model.

According to the news stories, he was cleared to land at the AFB before the incident.

The airport they landed at was sufficiently long for the C-17, not for a touch and go though, once he was down he was committed. The USAF has up to 24 hour crew days, this jet was coming in from southwest Asia, and they were doing a visual approach. We will have to wait until the report comes out, but I have a suspicion about what happened...

[Inverted2]

I remember that story back when I was doing my PPL. What ever happened to her? Did she quit flying or is she an AC 767 skipper by now? She's a legend. A living Amelia Earhart of sorts.

"Wrong-way Faye" wasn't it?

Yup. I knew her a little bit. She bought a used-up
C150 from a flying school. With 80/87 gone, I
suggested she consider saving some money and
reduce the lead by running some mogas - those
engines are famous for sticking valves.

She told me that I didn't know what I was talking
about, and proceeded to (try to) fly to OSH. Across
Lake Michigan, directly. Before she got there, guess
what happened? Yup, an exhaust valve started to
stick (lead fouling - remember, I don't know what
I'm talking about) and she did a precautionary landing
on a live artillery range. I am not making this up.

Decided to turn around and come back to Ottawa,
but never learned to use the nav radios in the panel.
Hazy day in Toronto. With the help of some coaching
from the Brampton UNICOM, she saw a big "33" and
landed there. At Pearson. Never saw all the construction
workers and equipment, who scattered when she
landed.

TC loved her. She became a celebrity in Eastern Ontario,
appeared on all the talk shows.

[imarai]

Yes, the "Swiss Cheese" incident model probably applies here. In August of 2003, an Air Canada A319 almost landed at Vernon, B.C. mistaking it for Kelowna, the intended destination. Several factors, including forest fire smoke, and the lack of available instrument approaches to Kelowna on that day contributed to the incident. A TCAS alert warned the pilots of very close opposite direction traffic, resulting in the pilots reassessing their geographic situation.

Anyone recall a Pacific Western 737 departing Yellowknife for Cambridge Bay, but tracked toward Churchill instead? Swiss cheese, anyone?

In both of the above cases, and most likely the C-17 Tampa incident, an extra alert air traffic controller probably could have saved the day, but that is not their primary job. It is still up to the guys and gals in the sharp end to head the aircraft to the intended destination.

[iflyforpie]

Iran Air 655.

That was the US Navy.

[Donald]

That was the US Navy.

And that would be why my post referenced the US military and not the US air force.

[SAR_YQQ]

. The USAF has up to 24 hour crew days,

16 hour FDP is normal, anything more and the crew would have to be augmented.