Delta Air Lines error: How THIS passenger plane landed in the WRONG destination
A DELTA AIR LINES plane landed at the wrong airport after pilots made a big mistake.
Delta Air Lines pilots made an error that caused the plane to land at the wrong airport
The American airline has apologised to passengers after a pilot error caused the plane to land in a different airport than its intended destination.
Federal investigators have blamed ‘pilot error’ for causing the Delta Air Lines flight mistake.
The plane had departed Minneapolis and was due to land in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Instead it landed some six miles away at the Ellsworth Air Force Base.
The plane was held on the tarmac for more than two hours before it was able to takeoff bound for its intended destination.
Both pilots have been suspended as the inquiry has taken place.
The US National Transportation Safety Board has revealed the two pilots made a mistake which led to the incident last July.
A report released by the board this week said the crew didn’t use the instruments available to determine their location.
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Delta Air Lines - the plane landed six miles before its intended destination in South Dakota
Delta Air Lines has offered a gesture of apology to passengers
One factor that likely contributed to the error was that both airport runways face in the same direction, northwest to southeast.
Delta Air Lines has offered a “gesture of apology for the inconvenience" caused to passengers.
It’s not the first time the runway has been mistaken for another.
The same incident unfolded in 2004 when a passenger plane landed at the air force base in error.
Delta Air Lines has apologised to passengers over the incident last year
An AirAsia pilot made a similar mistake with wider consequences after departing from an airport in Sydney, Australia in 2015.
Landing seven hours earlier than expected, the plane was more than 3,800 miles away from its intended destination.
The pilot had put the wrong coordinates in, which was the start of a combination of errors that caused the incorrect landing.