Boeing's Dreamlifter lands at wrong airport

[David Knudsen]

Full Article: http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Boeing-jet-lands-at-Jabara-Airport-232781081.html

WICHITA, Kans. - A Boeing jet is sitting on the runway at Wichita's Jabara Airport - and may be stuck there for awhile.

Witnesses say a Boeing 747 LCF Dreamlifter landed at Jabara Wednesday night. The cargo plane may be there by mistake, but FAA officials have yet to confirm details.

KAKE News has confirmed Boeing is sending a tug to Jabara Airport to turn around the jet. But the tug can only travel ten miles per hour, so the process may take several hours.

Several people tell KAKE News the Dreamlifter is too large for the Jabara runway. It also may be too big for Jabara's 6,100-foot runway.

The Wichita Airport Authority tells KAKE News it is assembling a "packet of information" for the media, concerning what happened.

The jet reportedly is owned Atlas Air of Purchase, New York.

Wichita emergency crews say they were not sent to the airport, so apparently no one was injured in the landing.

This is a developing story; watch for updates as we get them.

That's an 1800m runway - that will be a very interesting takeoff I suspect!

[Nigel C]

1800m should be heaps if there's no load I'd think. The damage to the runway shoulders and subsequent debris field it will dump on the runway behind it on take-off thrust might be another matter.... :eek:

[Grahame Hutchison]

http://www.kwch.com/news: A Dreamlifter is supposed to need a runway 9,199 feet long to take off at maximum takeoff weight, and 7,000 feet to land at maximum landing weight. The runway length at Jabara is 6,101 feet.


MTOW 803,000lbs

Takeoff Distance at MTOW 9,199ft (2804m)

A very challenging takeoff.

[Nigel C]

Was there anything saying it had a full load on board?

[Grahame Hutchison]

Nothing I have read Nigel, however I have not been able to find any information on the minimum takeoff distance for the Dreamlifter. Presumably would need to depart empty with minimal fuel load.

[David Knudsen]

The ATC audio is amusing, it sounds like they were pretty lost https://soundcloud.com/buzzfeednews/747-lands-at-wrong-kansas

[Grahame Hutchison]

A classic piece of ATC - they take so long to figure out where they are.

Apparently a C-17 did the same thing last year.

Seems like the airport is now closed for a week while they figure it out.

AD AIRPORT CLSD. 21 NOV 03:47 2013 UNTIL 27 NOV 23:00 2013. CREATED: 21 NOV 03:47 2013


REDDIT: "The 5500' length mentioned above is the balanced field accelerate/stop distance. Ferry permit and offload cargo/fuel to minimum weight and it will get out without having the stop distance required by regs."


If it does have B787 parts on board, they will need to send special equipment to unload it.

[Greg M]

Live streaming of it taking off.
http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/boeing-dreamlifter-lands-at-jabara/-/21054266/23081256/-/oma90hz/-/index.html

Meant to be about 6am Sydney time, successfully in the air at 6:17
Interesting what you can watch on the internet.

Thanks Grahame for the link.

[Grahame Hutchison]

Presumably a very short flight.

The pilots eventually worked out that they were 6 miles from McConnell Air Force Base, their original destination.

Hard to judge the length of the takeoff roll from the video. But guessing that there was not much runway left. Boeing confirmed there was cargo on board.

[Radi K]

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI4241/history/20131121/1800Z/KAAO/KIAB

Happens to the best of us ;) lol

[Grahame Hutchison]

Flying from one airport to the other was just like doing an extended circuit - did they bother retracting the gear ?

[Montague S]

Lol, so much for modern technology..

[Philip Argy]

I'd be sacking this crew - that's just plain unacceptable! :mad: