Thu, Oct 12, 2006
Landing At The Wrong Airport Can Be Fun... Not!
An easy mistake led to
a big problem for a Kentucky pilot. Neal Smith and his passenger
spent several hours as... um... guests of security forces at
MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last month.
Smith was on a flight plan from Jacksonville to land at Peter O.
Knight Airport in Tampa. He was going there to get his multi-engine
CFI rating. So how did he wind up visiting security forces at
MacDill?
Because Smith landed at MacDill instead of the airport in
Tampa.
Both airports sit at the end of separate peninsulas jutting into
Tampa Bay. From the direction Smith was flying, the two runways are
almost aligned with each other. MacDill's peninsula -- and its
runway -- is bigger, and probably easier to see from a
distance.
Tower controllers at MacDill saw the twin-engine Piper
approaching and broadcast repeated warnings by radio. They even
flashed a red light at the aircraft. That's the visual signal
telling a pilot he's not cleared to land. Despite the warnings,
Smith landed at MacDill around 9:00am on September 28th.
Base spokesman Lieutenant Larry van der Oord said security
forces immediately surrounded the aircraft, taking Smith and his
passenger into custody for questioning.
"All personnel involved responded appropriately to the
incident," van der Oord said. "This was just a case of a pilot's
lack of situational awareness."
The pair were released after Smith convinced Air Force
authorities he wasn't a terrorist and had no other criminal
intent.
As far as the Air Force is concerned... that's the end of
it.
Not so for the FAA. That agency is conducting its own
investigation to determine exactly what happened. FAA spokeswoman
Kathleen Bergen said an investigation could take months.
Smith faces a range of punishment -- from a warning, to
revocation of his license.
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