How can a plane land at the wrong airport?

The Boeing Dreamlifter example illustrates one of the most common causes of airport screwups: namely, two or more airfields lying in close proximity and sharing similar runway alignments. Dozens of airstrips lie scattered across the metropolitan area of Wichita -- the self-proclaimed "Air Capital of the World," thanks to its strong aircraft industry presence. The region surrounding McConnell Air Force Base alone boasts at least five [source: McMillin]. Consequently, when the Atlas Air pilot got his position wrong, he got it even more wrong than he realized: He thought the plane had landed at Beech Field, not Col. Jabara [sources: Jamieson and Chuck; LeBeau].

"Giant 4241 Heavy, do you know which airport you're at?"

"Well we think we have a pretty good pulse. Let me ask you this ... how many airports...directly to the south of ... your 1-9 are there?"

The likelihood of mistaken landings varies according to the landing system used by the pilot. Under an instrument landing system (ILS), the pilot or aircraft autoflight system tracks a set of crosshair signals all the way to the runway and therefore has little chance of wandering off the beam, provided that flight plan info is inputted correctly. On the other hand, pilots using a visual approach -- in which the crew recognizes the airport by sight and plots the most practical course and pattern to the runway -- have more rope with which to hang themselves. Both types of approach are common.

Between these two lie a number of "non-precision" instrument patterns, including the area navigation (RNAV) system that the Dreamlifter used. RNAV relies on inertial guidance and/or external course-plotting systems -- such as navigation satellites (GPS) and older VOR (very high frequency omnidirectional range) and DME (distance measuring equipment) signals -- to reach the field's vicinity. After that, it's up to the flight crew to sight the strip and land via a visual approach. This, too, leaves room for mistakes, which is why regulations require crews on visual approach to run through the checklist that confirms their location [source: Smith].

We won't know the full story on the Dreamlifter mix-up until the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) completes its investigation, but we do know that, in Wichita's case, the confusion has occurred before, especially in bad weather. In fact, one former Boeing employee told the Wichita Eagle that the company used to brief pilots about the problem, although he added that most pilots twigged to the mistake before landing [source: Plumlee and McMillin].

Of course, Wichita isn't the only city where mistaken landings happen. It's not even the only one where they've happened multiple times.

The Boeing Dreamlifter incident was only one example of landing at the wrong airfield. Although rare, it happens more often than you might think.

On Jan. 12, 2014, a Southwest Airlines flight took off from Chicago's Midway International Airport and landed at Taney County's M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport in Missouri. The plane was supposed to touch down at Branson Airport in southwest Missouri, a facility located 8.6 miles (13.8 kilometers) away [source: Martin]. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation the following day. Passengers and crew were all fine, even with the short runway, thanks to some heavy braking.

In July 2012, a huge military C-17 cargo plane scheduled to arrive at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Fla., instead put in at Peter O. Knight Airport, a small suburban field. Again, the mistake involved two neighboring airfields bearing similar runway configurations and, again, fears were voiced about possible runway damage caused by the beefy craft. Base officials subsequently implemented new landing procedures [sources: Hegeman and Freed; Mutzabaugh].

The previous September, a Continental Connection flight bound for Lake Charles Regional Airport in Louisiana landed instead at nearby Southland Field, a strip more accustomed to handling crop dusters than commercial flights. Similar incidents occurred at least twice there in the 1990s, including another Continental Express flight in 1996. That crew attributed the mistake to Southland Field's similar compass heading and recently installed bright lights, and added that the strip they landed on bore the same number as their assigned Lake Charles runway [sources: Associated Press; Mutzabaugh; Sulphur Daily News].

Such incidents occur all around the globe. In April 2009, a TAAG Angola Airlines flight bound for Zambia's Lusaka International Airport landed instead at an airfield used by the Zambian air force. The pilot recognized his mistake but landed anyway to avoid frightening the passengers with a sudden pull-up [source: Demerjian].

But you don't have to work for one of the least-safe airlines in the world to commit such a gaffe. In April 2009, a Turkish Airlines jet headed for Tbilisi, Georgia, instead put in at a military base 10 miles (16 kilometers) away [source: Demerjian].

Indeed, 10 miles seems to be a magic number in these cases. Col. Jabara Airport is situated roughly that distance from McConnell Air Force Base; MacDill lies about 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the end of Peter O. Knight's runway; Lake Charles Regional is located about 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) east of Southland [sources: Mutzabaugh; Smith].

There are exceptions, of course. Back in November 2007, the plane carrying then-presidential candidate Barack Obama landed in Des Moines, Iowa -- 100 miles (161 kilometers) from its scheduled stop in Cedar Rapids [source: Associated Press]. Maybe the pilot thought he'd like to be a few months early for the Iowa caucuses.