# How does a modern aircraft land at the wrong airport? How will the dreamlifter take off again? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420 "2013-11-21T12:31:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/41 "2013-11-21T16:35:00Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > A lost plane lands sideways across the runway… There’s an old Civil War joke about a soldier who is wearily crossing a very big, very wet swamp on foot and says, “Looks like we hit this river sideways.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/42 "2013-11-21T16:35:54Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > There’s almost certainly a safety factor factored in to the minimum required length. What that means is that the engineers were pretty confident that the aircraft didn’t normally need that much length, but added some “just in case” to try to prevent one of those once-in-a-career plane-in-a-pond mishaps. With the world watching closely, the pilots specially selected and ready, and ATC at high alert, it’s probably going to go fine. Someone said upthread that the runway length requirements include a margin in case of an abort. I’ll accept that as fact, as personally I haven’t worried too much about runway length in helicopters. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/43 "2013-11-21T16:45:34Z")
Perhaps hire David Copperfield …? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/44 "2013-11-21T16:55:35Z")
Definitely a “Doh!” moment for the pilots. Wouldn’t want to be them. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/45 "2013-11-21T17:04:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > … are you posting from your plane? Yes. On the ground in Brisbane that time and now on the ground in Sydney waiting for cargo to be loaded. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/46 "2013-11-21T17:14:04Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I’ll add more in a few hours when I finish work, but 180 and 190 is a very insignificant difference when it comes to flying a visual approach. 180/190 goes a long way toward explaining how this happened. More later, gotta fly! And in fact the actual magnetic headings are 181 and 188 so even less of a difference. It happens often enough that in the various airport directories there are often notes that say, in essence “Airport A is easily mistaken for airport B. Make sure you double check before landing.” ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/47 "2013-11-21T17:16:13Z")
CNN has a live feed of the impending takeoff. I predict it will be wonderfully mundane 😉 > **[How to watch CNN Live TV in the United States - CNN](https://edition.cnn.com/specials/about-live-tv)** > > Find out how you can watch CNN TV live on any platform. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/48 "2013-11-21T17:21:03Z")
I believe this used to be particularly common with London Heathrow and Northolt. So much so that they put a big NO on one of the gas towers near Northolt. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/49 "2013-11-21T17:24:56Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Could/should controller in tower have noticed that radar blip was in wrong place? The tower controller is primarily there to make sure two planes don’t try to use the runway at once. While I suspect as an air force base McConnell does have radar, many towers don’t and just look out the window. The tower doesn’t give the planes vectors or anything. If it was late at night he probably just checked that no other planes were approaching the airport, told the Boeing “cleared to land,” and figured he was done until the Boeing called back with a taxi request. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/50 "2013-11-21T17:27:32Z")
There was also the joker who lived close to the Milwaukee airport who put a sign on his roof: “Welcome to Cleveland”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/51 "2013-11-21T18:16:25Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > If it was late at night he probably just checked that no other planes were approaching the airport, told the Boeing “cleared to land,” and figured he was done until the Boeing called back with a taxi request. …The request being “Er, could we have a taxi to the right airport, please?” ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/52 "2013-11-21T18:31:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There was also the joker who lived close to the Milwaukee airport who put a sign on his roof: “Welcome to Cleveland”. Now that’s some funny shit hahaha. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/53 "2013-11-21T18:35:29Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Interesting thought. If you filled the entire 65,000-cubic-foot cargo capacity with helium, you’d add about 4,000 pounds of buoyancy. That doesn’t account for the weight of the bladders that would hold that helium, so the actual gain would be considerably less. The Dreamlifter weighs about 180,000 pounds empty, so relatively speaking, that’s not a real big gain; I would guess it wouldn’t improve acceleration or reduce the minimum takeoff speed enough to be useful by itself. What would you need bladders for? The thing is a pressure vessel. Just pump it full of helium, give the pilots some oxygen masks and let her rip. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/54 "2013-11-21T18:44:08Z")
Arthur C. Clarke wrote a novel called Glide Path, a thinly fictionalized version of his experiences working in the early development of radar in WWII. At the airport where most of the action takes place, they had precisely spaced reflectors which showed up on the radar screen. These reflectors were used to calibrate the system, so that the operators could identify locations on the screen with specific locations in physical space. A pompous officer, driving a Jeep across the airfield, runs into one of these reflectors. Thinking it a random piece of junk, he tossed it to one side, with a note to complain about maintenance leaving stuff around the field. At the same time, an important general is flying in to evaluate the project. Because of the missing reflector, when the radar operators tell the general’s plane to land, the pilot tells them to go to hell, as there is no field anywhere near where they are. Realizing what had happened, the base commander details a junior officer to grab a bicycle, and ride down the middle of the runway, so that the radar operators could get oriented. The airfield had recently been equipped with massive heaters to disperse fog – something only practical during wartime – and so the guy rides his bike right down the middle of the runway, with dual infernos on either side of him – basically riding through hell. The image is wonderfully described by Clarke. When they got the general on the ground, he shitcanned the officer with the Jeep, commended the guy on the bike, and approved the project. I have always wondered if Clarke was the guy on the bike. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/55 "2013-11-21T18:44:38Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > What would you need bladders for? The thing is a pressure vessel. Just pump it full of helium, give the pilots some oxygen masks and let her rip. Airliner fuselages are not air tight at all. They are surprisingly leaky. They are kept pressurized at altitude only because the pressurization system is constantly adding pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/56 "2013-11-21T19:00:48Z")
I heard a similar story about the early days of the 747. Boeing built their early, narrow-body jet airliners in Renton, at the southern end of Lake Washington. For the 747 they needed more room, so they built a new factory in Everett, about 30 miles away. When the first planes started rolling out, they didn’t have a paint facility in Everett yet, so they flew the unpainted planes to Renton. They needed minimum fuel, and a proper wind, to take off again. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/57 "2013-11-21T19:18:14Z")
I have landed at the wrong airport, In Miami, FL. I was told to do so by an approach controller who told me I was at the right place and the tower operator cleared me to land without seeing me with eyes or RADAR. Just took off successfully. ---
**Author:** ![W0X0F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@W0X0F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W0X0F)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/58 "2013-11-21T19:19:45Z")
The Dreamlifter just took off. No apparent problems. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/59 "2013-11-21T19:20:52Z")
Lockheed for design. Douglas for engineering. Boeing for damn fine airplanes. ↑This was the saying when I was first getting into aviation. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420/60 "2013-11-21T19:43:55Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Airliner fuselages are not air tight at all. They are surprisingly leaky. They are kept pressurized at altitude only because the pressurization system is constantly adding pressure. That’s what duct tape is for. It just has to hold the helium long enough to get off the ground. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-a-modern-aircraft-land-at-the-wrong-airport-how-will-the-dreamlifter-take-off-again/674420.md?page=4)