Landing at the wrong airport is not just about runway length

Names changed to protect the guilty.

Further back in history than I’d like to admit, I was on a security flight over an aircraft carrier pulling into port from a short underway period. It was CAVU to the moon and nothing more than pleasure boats to watch around the ship.  Not much on the radio either until, “Kitty Hawk Tower, Tomcat One Four.”

“Tomcat One Four, Kitty Hawk Tower, go ahead.”

“Kitty Hawk Tower, request flyby.”

“One Four, stand by.  Let me move my helo over to the starboard side. Break. Courageous, cleared across the bow.”

“Tower, Courageous, crossing the bow.”

“One Four, altimeter two nine nine four, wind three four zero at one nine knots.  Cleared for flyby on the port side.  Traffic is a helo on the starboard side.”

We were slowly flying sideways at about 150 feet to keep up with the ship and to see the flyby approaching from behind the ship. We also had a photographer on board for another potential photo op and the most clear shot was through the passenger door on the right side of the aircraft. 

“One Four is on a five mile final.”

“One Four, Kitty Hawk Tower, I don’t see you, yet. Clear to continue.”

We didn’t see the jet on final either.  We waited. We waited some more. 

“Kitty Hawk Tower, Tomcat One Four, for a left turn out.”  

“One Four, Tower, I never saw you.” We looked at each other in our cockpit and started to laugh.  He did his flyby on the wrong ship!

“Tower, what is your position?”

“About ten miles off Mayport.” Silence. We shook our heads and laughed at the jet guy. Plenty of our helo bubba friends chuckled at our story later, too. By the way boys, make sure you are talking to the right ship. 

Fast forward couple of years. I picked up a copy of our service aviation safety magazine and found an article by a friend of mine from flight school. “I wonder what lesson Tim has to share,” I thought to myself, as I flipped to the page where his story began. 

Tim was doing some helo support for an aircraft carrier when he was nearly hit by a jet doing an unauthorized flyby. They were so close to having a mid-air, the helo crew felt the heat of the jet’s exhaust. I didn’t laugh at the jet guy this time. He nearly killed five people (4 in the helo and himself) and put two multi-million dollar aircraft at risk. Tim’s lesson to share? Make sure you’re talking to the right ship. 

Landing at the wrong airport is not just a question of whether or not you will run out of runway. Being on the wrong frequency in the pattern raises the risk of an accident both where you actually are (no one knows you are there and you don’t   know anything about nearby traffic) and at the airport where you think you are (everyone there is trying to find you instead of keeping an eye on traffic that is actually there). Use all the resources you have available. There’s no excuse not to.