Pilots landed at the Wrong Airport!! Mentour Pilot explains

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Why do pilots some times land at the wrong airport, what drives these types of mistakes and are they dangerous?
In todays video I will be covering the wildly publicised BA flight which landed in Edinburgh instead of Düsseldorf and I will also discuss some more serious incidents, involving pilot mistakes that have happened during the last decade.
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A huge thank you to the channels which had their videos featured in todays episode. To see the full, awesome videos, use the links below!
CNN (Southwest airlines lands at wrong airport)
• Ooops! Plane lands at ...
• Pilots grounded for la...
Liarpoliticians2 (BBC coverage of BA flight)
• Video

[@robstorms]

Wonderful inclusion of confirmation bias. Fabulous video ! Rob in Rochester NY USA

[@nendwr]

The best example of this sort of confirmation bias was the 747 Dreamlifter a few years ago that mistook Jabara Airport (KAAO) for McConnell AFB (KIAB), and then after checking their charts convinced themselves that they'd landed at Beech Factory Airport (KBEC). The ultra-fun bit was once they were past their double confirmation bias, they then ran into the problem of taking off again from such a small airport - it required road closures nearby, as the plane would be so low.

[@lowercherty]

How many passengers have been sent to Rochester MN instead of Rochester NY?

[@woody4077]

@@lowercherty none i would hope they're two different codes ROC for roch ny and RST for roch MN

[@andraslibal]

Yeah that was a smooth segway. Many derivatives of the function were continuous :)

[@NicolaW72]

@@lowercherty :-)

[@leedsman54]

When they announced Edinburgh I bet every passenger thought "shit, I've got on the wrong plane" until they realised everyone thought the same.

[@seektruth3307]

Yeah, my first thought would have been that I got on the wrong plane.

[@tanya5322]

Except that electronic ticket scanners at the gate have been around for decades, and the gate agent would have gotten a visual and auditory error notice if a passenger tried to board a wrong plane. Also, having had my outgoing flight’s gate assignment changed on short notice before, I (as a passenger) always check the display over the gate agent’s desk. I can imagine that it’s possible that flight crew members might become so comfortable and familiar with an airport, that might glance at the signage at the gate agent desk and just assume that they saw what they expected to see.

[@seektruth3307]

@@tanya5322 This was a tongue and cheek statement. Just do like the rest of us and laugh as it was funny BECAUSE it is what we all likely would initially think. We all know it was pilot error. Thankfully a humorous one and not a tragic one.

[@christophermercado5466]

I KNOW RIGHT!! 😂😂😂😂😂

[@dennymambo]

Hahaha! Yeah that would have been my exact first thought. They do check though. Once I went to board a red eye and the crew at the gate had to inform me that the flight left exactly twenty four hours ago. That woke me up lol

[@pchantreau]

If the cockpit crew has a flight plan to Edinburgh, gets a clearance to Edinburgh, then lands in Edinburgh, it's fair to say that the pilots DID NOT land at the wrong airport. They were assigned a wrong destination, that would be a more accurate description.

[@yousafzaiaa7453]

rightfully mentioned... but this episode reminds about Varig Air Flight 254 which flew almost opposite to what they should have been flying to and eventually there was no airport where they reached. Although this happened due to a different reason but confirmation bias was somewhat involved there too. The awful part of that flight was when in the very start of the flight a passenger drew the attention of cabin crew that they are flying in the wrong direction but crew member laughed and ignored.

[@ninadbal1069]

Or the pax the wrong aircraft 😂

[@ak5659]

Agreed. If I arrive at work and my boss hands me a folder for project 'X' and tells me to finish it by the end of the day.... then at the end of the day my boss asks me why project 'Y' isn't finished... Newsflash, I didn't make any kind of mistake.

[@devial9879]

I remember being on a BA flight just after that happened and the Pilot made an announcement before departure saying "Given recent events I'd like to mention that I'm flying to London today and anyone who isn't should leave the aircraft now"

[@phil1press]

In the US when when you get on a regional flight, many planes are parked side by side and it's easy to get on the wrong plane. Usually flight attend announce the destination, and ask anyone not going there to get out.

[@catherinekilgour2563]

@@phil1press for a regional flight here the barcode on our boarding pass is scanned at the gate, electronic versions work too, then the boarding pass gets checked by a crew member when we enter the aircraft. So we have to prove we are getting on the correct aircraft twice.

[@nadejdakopanova415]

Lol

[@victoriacyunczyk]

Got to love British humor.

[@vbscript2]

@@catherinekilgour2563 Yes, all U.S. airports will scan the barcode on the boarding pass at the gate, but, at some airports (both in the U.S. and in Canada, even at Toronto Pearson,) there are some boarding areas where one or a few gate areas serve several aircraft parking stands, most typically for regional flights. In gates designed like this, after scanning your boarding pass, rather than walking through a jet bridge directly onto your aircraft, you instead walk out a ground-level door onto the ramp (the surface where planes park) where there will be a line of aircraft parking stands. There are generally airline employees in this area checking that everyone is getting onto the correct aircraft, but it would definitely be easier than usual to board the wrong aircraft at such gates. For example, all of the Southwest Airlines flights at Honolulu International Airport board this way, even the ones that are not regional at all, but are flying all the way back to the mainland U.S. (a 5-6 hour flight covering nearly 2,500 miles.) Toronto's main airport (Pearson International) has a lot of gates designed like this, too, but they're mostly for 'regional' flights (though with a broad definition of 'regional' that includes flights of 1,000 miles or so.)

[@dkm2343]

I remember this story being covered in the news. 😄It reminds of a Japanese comedy long time ago that featured a man who travelled by plane for the first time. He asked around where other people were going, and was amazed that everyone seemed to be heading the same direction as he was. The visibly annoyed lady next to him said, "Of course we are going to the same city. This is an aeroplane, not a bus!" 🤣

[@moiraatkinson]

I had an experience a while ago which made me think “oh s***! I’ve caught the wrong plane”. The aircraft had moving maps and I was travelling from LHR to NCL. After about 15 minutes the plane was showing as making a left turn and the miles left to destination were far too few. I then realised we were (apparently) flying to Manchester, rather than Newcastle. It was a heart stopping moment as I sat wondering whether to make a fool of myself and inform the cabin crew that I’d somehow caught the wrong plane, or say nothing and just go to Manchester. (I’m not sure why I thought they would turn back to LHR on account of a passenger boarding the wrong flight!). Anyway, a few minutes later the captain announced that some of us had noticed the moving maps had us flying to Manchester, but this was a mistake and the wrong route had been loaded onto them; we were definitely going to Newcastle and he had switched the maps off as some people were getting worried! I had previously thought the maps showed what the plane was doing, not what it was supposed to be doing, but the maps are not linked to the actual plane at all.

[@vk2ig]

I used to catch the BA LHR - NCL flight many years ago. :) I did a bit of flying from Adelaide to Canberra. One night, I and other passengers around me were convinced the flight attendant announced "Melbourne" just after they closed all the cabin doors. Later in the flight this was confirmed when I asked for a coffee (it helped keep me awake when I landed and had to drive home), and the reply was "Oh, sorry, we don't serve coffee on short flights!" Short flight ... it's an hour and a half! Anyway, the next day I emailed the airline and described what happened - their reply was, "Unfortunately we cannot explain why the cabin crew said 'Melbourne' or why they said they couldn't serve coffee on your service to Canberra." Thanks ...

[@moiraatkinson]

@@vk2ig that’s the worst way a company can react when someone makes a complaint. Not even an apology! I had to complain about a cruise expedition leader a few years ago, whose behaviour had been shocking once they had our money at the end. I got a reply to the effect of “can’t understand how this could be the case, our expedition leaders are chosen very carefully” type of thing.

[@sapphireseptember]

Oh lord, it's bad enough getting on the wrong bus (which I did in London once, needed to get from King's Cross to Paddington and the Tube lines I needed were closed, so I hopped on a bus, then saw the one to Paddington heading the opposite way.) And trains have confused me, I got on the train to Horsham, wondered 'is it the right one', yes it was, it now goes through London and out the other side, although that one ended up being diverted to King's Cross anyway. Getting on the wrong plane would be the last straw!

[@uffa00001]

@@moiraatkinson Apologizing means taking responsibility. In this case, the "shocking behaviour" was not something they would take responsibility for, although they probably will want to talk with the cruise expedition leader to understand what happened. In certain countries, a moment after you apologize, you are sued for damages.

[@moiraatkinson]

@@uffa00001 You make a very good point there. They say you should never use the word “sorry” if you’re in a car accident, no matter how obvious it is that you were to blame, for much the same reason.

[@pimpampet9202]

This takes; "Shit, i took the wrong exit." To another level.

[@mgoo1713]

Not when the wife tells you to take the exit you took....

[@williamgosvener47]

Not so funny when you live in the flight path of both Springfield-Branson National Airport and M. Graham Clark Downtown Airports.

[@danielaramburo7648]

GPS: set course 159 Pilot: setting course 089.

[@NicolaW72]

@@mgoo1713 :-)

[@sassyhello]

Or shit, I drove to the the right address in the wrong state. I’ve done that.

[@karlp8484]

One of the scariest scenarios I was aware of is Garuda Indonesia flying right past Perth International into the South West of Western Australia basically into nowhere. They didn't even notice Perth (not a small city) beneath them as flew over it. Basically, ATC had to ask them "where are you going?"

[@percystreet]

A Garuda jumbo once tried to land at Essendon in Melbourne instead of Tullamarine - it would not have been able to take off if it had done so and would have to have been towed to Tulsa up the freeway!!!!!

[@nightblizzard3160]

I’m a retired professor. On the first day class, I learned, through hilariously humbling experience, to ask a student or two which class they are here to take. Perhaps a checklist should be made for pilots that includes asking three passengers to where they think they are flying.

[@AngelLovee1234]

Ted Mosby :) ?

[@moiraatkinson]

I wonder what advice the checklist would give if the three people gave 3 different answers, non of which were correct ….

[@commerce-usa]

@@moiraatkinson send feedback to the admissions office. 🙄🤣👍

[@TribusMontibus]

Yes, but then again, as a professor you aren’t going very far out of your way, asking students a question. As a pilot, I’d have to get out of the cockpit, abandoning flight preparation procedures and go bother boarding passengers and getting in the way of the cabin crew. Not a desirable situation. Only in very far fetched situations would it yield anything unexpected.

[@moiraatkinson]

@@TribusMontibus I understand. 😊

[@kateorman]

I once got to take a look at the big book of runway maps used by pilots. I looked up tiny Canberra Airport, which came with a warning not to confuse its runway with the racetrack next door!

[@pamspurgers3578]

LOL!!

[@citadelofwinds1564]

So did the plane join the horse race?

[@markemanuele1929]

The day that I passed my check ride for my private (this was back in 1979), I flew from TEB (Teterboro, NJ) to AVP (Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Int'l) and back that night. It was about 3AM and I got clearance through what was then the New York TCA (Terminal Control Area). The ATC vectored me to EWR (Newark Int'l) by mistake instead of TEB then handed me off to TEB tower who had no visual on me, plus the runway that I asked for did not appear to be lit (obviously, since I was approaching EWR instead of TEB...). I didn't realize it until I saw a BIG "Eastern Air Lines" sign on the ground, at which time I returned to the Approach Frequency, where the controller realized his mistake and then vectored me back to TEB. It was a good thing that it was 3 AM instead of 3 PM... I was afraid I was going to lose my ticket the same day that I got it. ATC took full responsibility for the error, and I learned a lesson to double check where I was at all times.

[@ainsleycarrington]

This is the best comment, thank you for taking the time to write it (2 yrs ago!).

[@markemanuele1929]

@@ainsleycarrington Thanks, i really thought my flying "career " was over that night.

[@lancer525]

91.3 (a) The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

[@Parc_Ferme]

@@lancer525 91.123 (b) Except in an emergency, no person may operate an aircraft contrary to an ATC instruction in an area in which air traffic control is exercised. 🤔

[@jeffmockus5400]

You're doing a night flight on the day you got your private? Dang!!! I quit flying years ago with about 250 hours and I would have never flown at night.

[@davec3226]

"That's not what the passengers are paying you for, (etc)" is one of the smartest things I've heard a pilot say in my 50+yrs of aviation.

[@vk2ig]

It's a worthwhile thing for anyone working in the aviation industry to remember.

[@DerletztenormaleMensch]

Ryanair would say they flew to Düsseldorf-West

[@kellypaws]

Then try to charge you an extra...

[@fluffigverbimmelt]

Perfect, well played

[@DanRichardsonTV]

Haha this comment 😂

[@AllanMichaelDigitano]

💯😂😂😂

[@rubenproost2552]

Why do a visual landing at all unless the nav stuff broke down...?

[@panop8726]

Around 1970 in the UK, Channel Airways had two Vickers Viscounts on the ramp at Southend preparing for departure. Ground staff led the passengers out to their flights, one going to Jersey and one to Guernsey (neighbouring islands in the English Channel). After both aircraft took off the crew made the usual PAs and on each aircraft the passengers immediately queried the destinations with the cabin crew. It turned out that the ground staff had accidentally led the passengers to the wrong aircraft. After some quick discussion on the radio each aircraft changed their flight plans to go to the islands that their passengers were headed. All good until after landing when it was discovered that the bags had been loaded on the CORRECT aircraft so each Viscount then had to make an extra hop between the islands to deliver the bags to the thoroughly bemused passengers. The joys of travel.

[@RichTiger7]

ROFL 😹😹😹

[@kureki147]

I thought the dog was some kind of carpet on your couch until it stood up lol.

[@NarnianLady]

haha true

[@historylover13]

Same, I jumped when it moved hehe

[@KritulRathod]

I have seen about 30 videos in last 24 hours and falling in love with both these little stars of the channel

[@ramblingrob4693]

@@KritulRathod stars...? pair of mops

[@smiddy0000]

Thnx to your comment i now realize they have the same haircolor ;) lol

[@simonleach3812]

Sometimes when I board an aircraft, I deliberately state a wrong destination just to see how awake (maybe after many shifts) the crew is. Now I know how pertinent this can be!

[@svenolofandersson2572]

A long time ago, I was meeting with people from some kind of international students organisation in East Berlin. There was a LOT of partying and one of the Russian delegates was completely bombed out. They put him on a flight back to Moscow, but by mistake put him on a flight to Tashkent instead. We received a telegram back a day later from the guy which said: "I am in Tashkent. Why?".

[@nt78stonewobble]

"You know why."

[@dawn5227]

🤣

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

OMG 😹 Hope he had enough money to get home!!

[@arushasmusic8523]

Loool ! I hope he found a way to enjoy his time in Tashkent nonetheless..

[@paulortiz2035]

There isn't a lot in Tashkent except for cotton fields. And tea bushes! I think it's lovely but it certainly isn't for everyone! ( very few most likely!)

[@BradenBogdan]

I noticed that you have the red and green pillows on your couch in the order of nav lights on an aircraft! Awesome! 🇨🇦

[@kirayatail]

I have socks that are that way :P Also helpful at sea!

[@Steve-ev6ow]

Max Witt Yeah, I do the sock thing, too, situational awareness can be problematic when one is susceptible to vertigo!

[@BradenBogdan]

You guys are awesome! True aviation pros!

[@Inkling777]

Sailors must remember "Red, Right, Return." When you're RETURNING from the sea keep the RED light/buoy on your RIGHT.

[@808melz]

i noticed too, but as a boater. lol

[@ejpeiker]

This happened to me in 1983 as a passenger while I was a student at Purdue University in Northern Indiana in the city of West Lafayette. The other major university in northern Indiana is Notre Dame located in South Bend which is about 100 miles or 160km from West Lafayette. I was flying the final leg from Chicago Ohare (ORD) back to college and the ground crew mixed up boarding between the two identical Dash-8 aircraft so all of the people heading to Purdue went to Notre Dame and all of the people flying to Notre Dame went to Purdue. These schools are bitter rivals in American) football and basketball. They ended up busing us to the correct university.

[@willshedo]

Oh, that fancy fur cushion is actually an apricot poodle !!!

[@knutritter461]

This has happened here around Hamburg in Germany several times as well. Some planes tried to land (some even did) on the Airbus company-airport Finkenwerder (XFW) instead of the international airport Fuhlsbüttel (HAM). They are about 8-9 miles apart.

[@literatouristin]

Im at the Hamburg Airport hat this exact Moment, watching videos about airplane accidents and incidents, while waiting to board one. I probably should stop...

[@knutritter461]

@@literatouristin Well... landing at the wrong airport I would not call an incident but rather misfortunate! 😂

[@FlashGeiger]

It doesn't sound so much that the plane went to the wrong airport as the company loaded the wrong set of passengers onto the plane.

[@sierraromeomike]

That's so right!

[@kd5you1]

If that had happened then the other set of passengers would have gone to a wrong airport too. Only one flight had a flightplan with the wrong destination.

[@sierraromeomike]

@@kd5you1 so did two planes go to Edinburgh instead of one?

[@railotaku]

Probably - the hire in would be flying under it's callsign rather then a BA CityFlyer one if it was a BA E190/170 so I doubt ATC would have flagged it up as a duplicate

[@dasy2k1]

@@sierraromeomike no, neither were there any pax in dusseldorf wanting to be in Edinburgh

[@Amdeusz]

There are two airports in Poznań, located close to each other with similar runway length and direction. In 2006 a B737 from Turkey landed and the crew was surprised when the plane was greeted by the military personnel. Visual approach was the cause of the incident.

[@hectormonclova7563]

Same situation happened in Puerto Rico in the 80’s, with a British Airways aircraft. Thing is it was a so much smaller airport, and very near the San Juan port, which had to stop operations for the plane to take off the next day.

[@hectormonclova7563]

And this was aggravated by the fact the control tower explained clearly to the pilots it was another airport, and the later chose not to believe what was told. A matter of arrogance then.

[@danielbliss1988]

And in Rapid City in South Dakota in the US, where a relatively small civil airport -- Rapid City, with a fairly normal-sized 8700 foot runway, 14/32, isn't far from a major strategic airbase -- Ellsworth -- with a 13,500 feet long, 300 foot wide behemoth of a primary runway, 13/31. In 2004 and again in 2016, flights from Minneapolis to Rapid City landed on runway 13 at Ellsworth by mistake instead of runway 14 at Rapid City. Both of these involved Airbus A320-series planes.

[@marhawkman303]

@@danielbliss1988 Ooooh... I would not want to land at Ellsworth without tower clearance. To do so means risking a recreation of the Tenerife incident. Yeah, why is Ellsworth a 300 foot wide runway? because they have crap like C-130s and C-17s fly out of it! You do NOT want to get hit by one of those things when it's taking off! Sure, they're smaller than a 747... (C-130 is a turboprop plane with around 1/4 the take-off weight, and C-17 is a jet with 2/3 or so the weight of 747). Still much larger than anything I'd want to have collide with me.

[@materliliorum]

@@marhawkman303 I guess the A320 isn't invisible and they don't want to collide with it either

[@madeleinesiletti8182]

I was a flight attendant on the Saudia flight that landed at a military base instead of Chenai Airport. It was a fully loaded 747. The landing was terrifying. It was assumed that the aircraft had been hijacked so we spent 5 hours on board while the Indian and Saudi government communicated - no ac, ran out of food, drinks etc. It was crazy!

[@adhithiyathiru7790]

I am from Chennai, which military base Tambaram military air field is near Chennai airport did you land there? That too 747 😳🤔 which year was this?

[@TIO540S1]

That’s a very different “wrong airport” story than ones I’ve heard previously. Those usually involve a visual approach where, for example, a crew mistakes a military base nearby for their destination airport.

[@ArjunaKrishnaDas]

Whenever I fly, on boarding, I usually ask the air hostess 'What time do we get into ?' If I'm lucky I'll get a laugh. Never realised this is actually a sensible check!

[@wildgurgs3614]

It's a good tactic! One time someone was having a technical problem and I causally made a joking suggestion which ended up giving someone else the idea that ended up solving the problem!

[@megandunnett7900]

@@wildgurgs3614 was it “have you turned it off and on again’?😂 …..Just kidding

[@maloyo7901]

On every flight I've taken in recent years, after boarding is finished but while we are still at the gate, someone will announce the flight number and destination (and if necessary, the continuing destinations). They almost always jokingly say, if you're not going there, blah, blah, blah. Once, I actually saw someone get up, talk to a flight attendant, and leave the plane.

[@indranilchakrabarty4196]

😆😆😆😆😆

[@johneyon5257]

i might have been too embarrassed to leave the plane

[@thirdopinion8708]

Every time I am amazed how your content always covers 100%. Meaning after watching any video, there are no more questions left open. Every thing is explained and all parties included in the explanation. This is not common anymore in the fast pace of the social media. Thank you, captain!

[@thebiggerbyte5991]

Really interesting part about confirmation bias - it has featured in so many incidents and accidents, and is something that really needs to be targetted in training, and not only for pilots.

[@douglasdavidson9798]

Thank you so much for providing an explanation of the flight to Dusseldorf landing in Edinburgh that I could believe. The way the news outlets presented the story, it made it sound like the a new version of the old Wrong Way Feldman story where the crew filed a plan to Dusseldorf, departed the airport for Dusseldorf, and then flew clueless until they somehow reached Edinburgh without ATC even noticing than something was amiss. That should be impossible, and now you showed me exactly how it could become possible.

[@philipberthiaume2314]

Certainly no shortage of material to cover lately. Thank you for another informative video!

[@scpvrr]

I very much enjoyed this one. A couple years ago a USAF C17 landed at a small general aviation airport (Peter O Knight) in Tampa, FL instead of MacDill AFB. The jet got stopped, then it was a real big project to get it airborne again to return to the airbase. I appreciate you using an incident, not accident as the teaching tool.

[@computerschreck]

I once had a long delay on a night flight returning from vacation because that plane's previous flight went from its departure to Las Palmas (Canary Islands) instead of Palma de Mallorca. Airline personnel kept telling us another plane would be ready "any minute now" for six hours straight, so sleeping was out of the question - not exactly the best night I've had to say the least

[@k34561]

My wife was on a flight just like that. She was flying to Boston, MA. The only difference is before flight took off, the pilot welcomed every to flight to Austin, TX. Everybody starred at their at the person next to them and asked "Are you going to Boston". Shortly after every stewardess call button was pushed. After a little delay the flight went to Boston.

[@hihey229]

I flew to Athens around September, and as the pilot was making his first PA after boarding he said: "Welcome to flight XXXX to Mallorca..." I remember all the passengers and cabin crew looking at each other in confusion. There was a brief pause, where I assume the FO talked to him, and then the pilot corrected himself, amidst laughs.

[@missano3856]

I seem to remember years ago a commercial flight bound for Rapid City South Dakota landed at the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base which at the time was a SAC base with nukes, the Air Force was not amused.

[@derfvcderfvc7317]

How were they allowed in the airspace without someone saying something?

[@markburckhard553]

@@derfvcderfvc7317 I remember that incident at RAP but don't remember the details

[@bks252]

As soon as they landed they were surrounded by armed security and the aircraft was boarded by armed security while sitting on the runway. The Delta pilots got a little vacation for that. They were on a visual approach. No excuses.

[@danielaramburo7648]

@@bks252 pilots: we can explain. We landed to thank you for your service. The passengers wanted a tour of the base too.

[@tanya5322]

I have a faint recollection of that incident, but I can’t remember if it was pilot error or if weather played a contributing factor. We were at a family reunion in Rapid City one year on a beautiful summer day, when law enforcement showed up telling everyone at the park to take cover because a hail storm was coming in. I thought he must be joking. Then moments later golf ball size hail was pounding every thing

[@dentonadam]

I’m originally from the Branson area. I remember that happening. Local news reported that had to bring in a “short take off specialist” to get that plane out of the airport. Very wild situation.

[@ekinz7286]

Your dog is the cutest thing i have ever seen

[@MentourPilot]

He is precious!

[@williamswenson5315]

Think so? Buy the mug.... after all, it features the dog's mug, so why not?

[@williamevans9426]

@@MentourPilot How old is he? (He looks quite eldery!) Oh - another friend (Molly)'s just appeared!

[@da4127]

Thought it was another pillow

[@TheClassicalElf]

I like to see more of your doggies. Can i adopt one? I Live in Florida and you live Spain.

[@davidebcc92]

The passengers should probably get an award for failing to notice the considerable lack of English channel during their journey though

[@Calmarius]

If there was a cloudy weather that they, they probably wouldn't tell the difference.

[@davidebcc92]

@Calmarius fair point

[@Dobermanator]

@@Calmarius It's always sunny in the UK, why would you think like that for?

[@johan.ohgren]

@@Dobermanator sunny? I hear the weather in the U.K. sucks.

[@Dobermanator]

@@johan.ohgren That's just a trope people stereotype with. Do you really think in the UK everyone walks around in the rain eating fish and chips? Ah who am I kidding, you were right.

[@tom6294]

A few years ago, an Ethiopian Airlines landed at Arusha a small one-runway airport rather than the nearby Kilimanjaro International Airport. The runway at Arusha was so short that there probably was thought of turning the plane into the city's newest Ethiopian restaurant. They finally unloaded everything they could get off the plane including fuel. It took off with about 5 feet of runway left and it probably got to JRO with enough fuel to fill a large Zippo. The takeoff is on KZbin.

[@WorldTravelerCooking]

When I was living in Sweden, there was a flight which flew all the passengers to the wrong airport but with a twist. The air crew landed at the right airport but the ground grew boarded the passengers onto the wrong flight. The catch there was the flight that everyone was supposed to be on was cancelled, and everyone boarded onto a different flight.

[@giftofthewild6665]

So what happened to the passengers that were originally meant to fly to the airport they landed at?

[@WorldTravelerCooking]

@@giftofthewild6665 The newspapers didn't cover that!

[@giftofthewild6665]

@@WorldTravelerCooking 😆

[@Inkling777]

I liked what you said about confirmation bias. One key factor in these mistakes is that runways are often oriented to the prevailing winds, so two airports in the same area often have runways in the same direction. Airports might want to consider adding various symbols to the runway's touch-down area just after the number, with each symbol giving a rough description of the runway's length.

[@willshedo]

I had a similar thought, I would color code airports that are close to each other in one area. Something like the lights running along in the middle of the runway in different colors, pink, orange, yellow, light blue... just a vague idea.

[@materliliorum]

Great idea

[@davidchamberlain2162]

This happened many many years ago at Heathrow. The plane landed at Northolt. The gas tower at Chiswick had arrows painted on it. The plane at Northolt had all the seats and anything else removed plus minimal fuel to get it off the ground.

[@andrewmwells9606]

Your dogs are just like my sister's whenever someone says the word "Walk," they're up and full of energy. Love the videos!!

[@gordongreen6576]

Many years ago a group of us were headed to a conference in New York and were flying in a 4 seat private aircraft, I was in co pilot seat when I noticed the pilot was lining up on the New Jersey Turnpike instead of Newark Airport, I called this to his attention and we did land safely at Newark.

[@timbaker1428]

I was living in Branson when the Southwest incident occurred. The plane couldn't leave the airport until after sunrise the next morning, because they were worried the length of the runway would pose an issue for takeoff. Of course, a ton of spectators and press were there to watch too, just in case something went wrong. 🙄 Luckily there was no issue.

[@MephiticMiasma]

didn't they take off with minimum fuel?

[@wolfgangschroedter3236]

Funny - and educational as usual! In my training years for ATC back in the late 60s of last century I witnessed a similar incident. A Spantax flight with a Convair 990 from Spain to Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel declared "Field insight" and wanted to go vfr. It did - and landed in Hamburg Finkenwerder, which is a similar looking but very much smaller Airport with a very short runway!! Most experts still think it impossible that a CV990 is able to land there - But it did. To shuttle over to Fuhlsbüttel they had to take out all the seats together with everything else possible - even drain most of the remaining fuel - and JUST made it . . Good thing is, the institutions and airlines learn from these things . . .

[@dschoene57]

Little error there about the Saha Air crash. Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and the Saha flight was actually COMING from Bishkek in Kyrgysztan and was bound to Karadsh, Iran, but it landed at Fath instead. One of the last active 707's was lost, along with 15 lives.

[@jamesnastelli598]

This video reminds me of a humorous and potentially very dangerous incident that took place a few years ago. A U.S. Air Force C-17 headed for McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida USA. They managed to safely land that hugh aircraft on a small civilian airport by mistake. So small in fact that they could not turn the aircraft around and had to back it down the runway to take off. You might want to consider making a video of it. Thanks and I really enjoy your videos.

[@PlaneSpottingBerlin]

Who elso only noticed the dog on the couch towards the middle/end of the video? :D

[@williamswenson5315]

Yep. I was starting to wonder where she was.

[@trueriver1950]

I always notice the Mentor doggies. In fact I look out for them. Situational awareness: mentor; look for dog

[@mikegallegos7]

Excellent video and reminders for me, Mentour: I fly corp in HondaJets and often am solo. Especially when solo, I will often ask tower to identify my approach and reapprove the landing. Soloing into a strip is very busy by yourself and it is a good idea to make sure tower has a visual or confirmed radar lock. Thanks again for some great reminders. Love your poochies. 🙂

[@russiandrivers9986]

Once I was flying on Iberia from Madrid to London and we got bussed to an A320 and the passengers got of the bus and went up the steps. But when they boarded the plane it turned out it was the wrong one, as this one was going to Tenerife.

[@huorfefalas]

In case of confirmation bias, something similar happened in Isparta/TURKEY, 1976. But results of that one is much crucial. Turkish Airlines Flight 452 (Boeing 727-2F2), from Istanbul Atatürk Airport to Antalya Airport (just short 1 hour flight). After takeoff (22:45 EET), captain decided left cockpit to having some conversation with his friends in bussiness class and left. First officer was in charge of flight and when they are in Isparta, first officer at 23:11 EET, called the control tower at Antalya Airport to report that they had the runway lights in sight but actually what he saw was D330 highway (4000 meters/13,000 ft long, perfectly straight and well illuminated). He requested an approach directly to Runway 36 (facing north) and immediately started to descend for final approach under visual flight rules instead of instrument flight rules without waiting for the clearance by the air traffic controller (ATC). The ATC asked the aircraft where it was going to land and warned that it was not in the region yet and it could neither be seen on the radar screen nor by naked eye. The first officer responded that he believed his own eyes and continue descending. As the aircraft was at 490 ft/150 meters, the captain returned to the cockpit and started shouting to first officer "What an actual f*ck do you think you doing, you son of a b*tch!". He became aware that the aircraft was descending onto a highway with truck traffic on it. He initiated a sudden climb with full power. However, the heavily loaded aircraft struck the slope of a hill at Karatepe (97 kilometers north of destination airport) with it's right wing and crashed, resulting in the death of all 154 people on board.

[@melaD333]

I’ve learned to always watch to the end! Don’t want to miss the doggie footage 🐶

[@InquisitiveSearcher]

Once upon a time I had a pilot tell me a joke about an improper landing: Pilot: ( after making a difficult landing using heavy breaks looks over to the passenger and says) Man!. That is the shortest runway I have every landed at! Passenger: ( after taking a long moment to look from left to right says to the pilot) Well,... it sure is the widest one I have ever seen.

[@sailaab]

hehee hee

[@jomac841]

Jim Kiley lol

[@26mamun]

😂🤣

[@bhattacp]

When I was about 9 years old a similar thing happened at Calcutta Airport. A BOAC flight was supposed to Land at Calcutta Airport (CCU) but made its way to Barrackpore Military Airport which was situated quite near. The runway was only suitable for Fighter & Bomber Aircraft. The Pilot was able to land there but there was no way to get the BOAC aircraft to take off as the runway was short + about 100 people +fuel. Ultimately everything was taken out so as to lighten the aircraft. A pilot was flown in from UK who was expert in take off from a short runway. He was given only enough fuel to take it to CCU and land. The passengers were taken care of, but the Pilots and Navigators had to face a lot of questions.

[@indranilchakrabarty4196]

No it was a Pan Am 707 from Bangkok to Karachi which got caught in a thunderstorm and wanted to make an emergency landing in Calcutta NOT a BOAC plane

[@littlemichael7]

It was only later when they realised that the aircraft that had flown in the expert UK pilot was now not able to take off.

[@marhawkman303]

@@indranilchakrabarty4196 are we sure it only happened once?

[@Chris-nn3vu]

England not uk

[@CadetClark1996]

I'm addicted to your videos!! They're very informative! There's so much knowledge to be learned from your content, it feels like I grow as a pilot the more I watch your videos! Nice job!! Will you be at the Paris Airshow?

[@saqibmudabbar]

That reporter was hilarious!

[@williamswenson5315]

He was having a rare old time of it, wasn't he?

[@mysock351C]

His cameraman was dancing around nude in lederhosen.

[@sailaab]

*+mysock351C* Correction: *camerawoman

[@Avgeek1564]

He was just glad to be talking about anything but Brexit.

[@williamswenson5315]

thank you for a visual I'll never get out of my head. @@mysock351C

[@FalconX88]

Reminds me of that really big Military transporter that landed on a tiny, uncontrolled airport next to the air force base and couldn't take off again because the runway was too short.

[@moiraatkinson]

Does a plane need more distance to take off than to land then?

[@Duhhh639]

@@moiraatkinson yes

[@moiraatkinson]

@@Duhhh639 thanks. Amazing what you can learn on KZbin. 😊

[@moiraatkinson]

@@Duhhh639 I wonder what they did with it then? Sail it home on a carrier?

[@Duhhh639]

@@moiraatkinson ig it's still there 😂

[@ronpalmer2u]

I am instrument rated private pilot, owned a Lance T tail with DME and auto pilot, fully loaded in 1990. I Live in Florida, flew to the Bahamas, New York Kennedy FBO, Stewart FBO New York, Richmond, VA and mountain certified in Lead Ville Colorado (runway 9,975 feet high). I am 82 and can't fly anymore except with guys like you. I enjoy flying with you. I practice remembering ATC instructions. Thanks for the memories.

[@richardblackwell1230]

Thanks for clearing this up so that we now understand what probably happened. 👍👍👍

[@hoomanesfandiari6239]

Thanks for the great explanations. A small correction regarding the Saha incident: Bishkek is actually a city in Kyrgyzstan where the plane departed from. I believe the Saha's 707 was planned to land in Payam airport located in Karaj city in the province of Alborz in Iran.

[@NicolaW72]

Indeed.

[@pmo764]

Yes

[@rjfaber1991]

I'm disappointed that I had to scroll this far down to find somebody pointing out that Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, not a city in Iran; my belief in humanity's capacity for simple geography has failed me once more...

[@uffa00001]

@@rjfaber1991 I thought "Bishkent?" but then he said "Bishcake" or something to that effect, so I thought "ah, that must be in Iran". I still think I failed better than many others ;-)

[@marhawkman303]

@@uffa00001 heh, I just didn't recognize the city name. Honestly, given the region, such differences.... could very well be different places.

[@zoperxplex]

This happened quite a while ago here in Puerto Rico. A pilot landed in Isla Grande Airport rather than in San Juan International which is known today as Luis Muñoz Marín International. That was quite an accomplishment since the aircraft was a transatlantic airliner and Isla Grande was built for propeller driven aircraft. How they flew the airliner out of the airport I never knew.

[@wj8003]

Saludos yo también soy boricua y aspirante a piloto

[@NetAndyCz]

With low fuel, no passengers and strong headwind those planes can use surprisingly short runways

[@Genthar]

Particularly the "no passengers" part. Modern airliners can do pretty amazing maneuvers when they're not concerned about passenger comfort.

[@Markle2k]

@@Genthar As the standard 787 footage shows quite well.

[@stevetoth3439]

Excellent, informative, interesting videos! I have been watching regularly, and thought it was about time to leave a comment. :) Thank you for your work on these - while you are also working as a pilot. Many thanks from Canada! Steve

[@marykopp2117]

I’m 79 years old and love learning about planes, Mary. From Florida

[@mohtasimhasan2353]

I laughed so frekin loud when i read the news XD

[@napoleano2748]

was lmao!

[@stevenplaskett7728]

Your a amazing person that the aviation industry is blessed to have in there planes 🙂

[@beaglesguy]

Liked how informative (as well as entertaining) this video presentation is. Watched a few others from your channel. Equally as good. Subscribed. And thank you.

[@JayJasperLondon]

Can I just say that I fly to Germany and Düsseldorf in particular at least half a dozen times a year and German carriers are NOTORIOUS for not making a welcome announcement I think I’ve mentioned that before. Last summer I asked one of the pilots about it as he was stood by the exit and he said he thought that most passengers would prefer leaving as quickly as possible to hearing a PA prior to take-off 🤔🤔🤔 So there u have it 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@giftofthewild6665]

I've never been on a BA flight where they didn't do the preflight announcement including destination city, time of arrival, and weather etc.

[@JayJasperLondon]

@@giftofthewild6665 Yeah but that’s usually one of the flight attendants doing it not the pilot?

[@giftofthewild6665]

@@JayJasperLondon no, its usually the captain.

[@JayJasperLondon]

@@giftofthewild6665 Yes it should be but the Germans just ignore that part of the procedures 😅

[@MarbewRecords]

Your awareness is priceless. Thanks for all these great teaching all the times.

[@TakeDeadAim]

The two such incidents I remember most are the Boeing Dreamlifter landing at the wrong airport in Kansas and the C-17 landing at the GA airport down in Tampa.

[@GigsVT]

Not quite the same but that one that landed on a NASA levee ... and then they managed to take it off again days later. All these airplanes stuck on suboptimal runway lengths made me think of that impressive feat.

[@balazslengyel6950]

I was in India Mumbay/Bombay in the early 70s. They had a small GA airport at that time called Juhu airport and the international airport (called Santa Cruz at that time) lined up nicely. At least on 2 occasions big passenger planes landed on Juhu airport. A 707 landed, and managed to stop, partly on the airport fence, with not much damage. However, it could not take off from the short runway, so after some time, they cut the otherwise not to badly damaged 707 apart and scrapped it. While the 707 was still sitting on the airport fence an Il-18 landed, managed to stop, but had problems getting airborne again. I heard they stripped it of all possible weight including passenger seats and added the minimum fuel to make the 20 km trip to the international airport. It managed to take off clearing the palm trees with just a few meter to spare. I can just imagine the IL-18 pilots at landing: - Is this the right runway, it seems a little short ? - And why is there a 707 sitting on the fence there?

[@mancubwwa]

Here in Poland we have Poznań quite a nice city, the problem is there is a large military airbase. Now if you draw the line along it's runway, that line will go less then 1km from the civilian airport on the other side of the city. And the civilian runway is at less than 10 degrees angle related to the military one. And the bright concrete in the airbase is much more visible than airports asphalt. The effect is quite a few flights ended on the wrong side of town surrounded by not-verry-happy soldiers.

[@indranilchakrabarty4196]

@@balazslengyel6950 I dont know where the 707 came from, but a JAL DC8 and a Garuda Convair 880 both landed at Juhu and got out with great difficulty. That il18 was an Interflug plane

[@wilsjane]

@@mancubwwa I bet the soldiers love the break from cleaning their boots. 😊

[@barryfowler954]

Another great video, yes, even flying VFR you should use & monitor your ADF & VOR & your DME. Flying across outback Australia in the early 70's you use every bit of help or backup to your navigation you can find. Great job again Mentour, keep up the good work.

[@mrbob459]

I enjoyed your discussion of the visual landing errors. It brought back to mind an incident from the mid 1990s with on of the last SR-71 flights into Offutt AFB. There is a small civil aviation airport just outside Millard, a former small town that is now part of Omaha. This airport is approximately 13 miles west and one or two miles north of Offutt. Both runways are oriented east/west, but the Millard airport's runway may only be 1500 ft. For some reason the pilot of this blackbird made a final approach on the Millard airport. He realized his error early enough to abort his landing and continue east to Offutt, but it was a major embarrassment for him. It was big news in the area and on the Omaha and Lincoln TV stations and in both newspapers for several days.

[@Moadeeb_]

Even with his back to the camera, Doggo steals the show. 🐶

[@EleanorPeterson]

Hi, Moadeeb! I bet Doggo's dreaming of Spice. The Sleeper will awaken at around dinner time... ;-)

[@erictrumpler9652]

Patxi

[@NarnianLady]

that is what dogs do..

[@UraFlight]

I remember how in 2004 every body were waiting for B52 fly past at Farnborough airshow. They did fly past at the wrong parallel airport

[@indranilchakrabarty4196]

😄😄😄😄

[@vpyke79]

I worked in a hotel near heathrow many years ago, we once got a crew in that did not have a reservation cos they flew to the wrong airport. I decided I will never fly with that airline. Now better understand the possble reasons behind. Thanks Petter

[@keithammleter3824]

Trust me: Confirmation bias is a problem with scientists too. They invented the term. Also with engineers and technicians.

[@lambotama]

Mentour is a genius. Instead of him paying people to check over his videos he has people pay him to check his videos.

[@stephaniepittaluga5057]

Your dogs are beyond adorable! 💕 I’m always happy to see them in the videos:))

[@MentourPilot]

Yeah! They are intensely cute.. and fluffy!

[@kykk3365]

11:15 I believe Bishkek is in Kyrgyzstan, not Iran, so likely that was where the flight originated from.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

Yes

[@Warriorking.1963]

In 2007 an Airbus A320 operated by Eirjet on behalf of Ryanair, was supposed to land at the City of Derry Airport in Northern Ireland. Instead it landed on Ballykelly airstrip, a former WW2 airbase which had been extended in case the RAF V bombers needed extra bases in the event of a war. It was closed to aircraft for years before the incident, being used as a helicopter base by the Army, when out of nowhere, came the A320. Upon landing, the captain said through the PA, "We may have landed at the wrong airport".

[@dihydrogenmonoxid1337]

When I saw this I had a good laught :D It always brightens up my day when you upload unexpectedly (or in general).

[@MentourPilot]

Good! I hope you learnt something new as well!

[@yassineelouati2649]

Many thanks for your videos. This reminds me when flying in the cockpit with my father back in the 80s. Upon locking on a runway during landing, the flight engineer or the monitoring pilot would listen in to the locked frequency and confirm the morse code matches that of the runway they expect to land on, while double checking their instruments.

[@SirLionofBiff]

On the east coast of Canada, there are two ridiculously similarly named major destinations: Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Newfoundland. Every year, someone discovers - after landing - that they went to the wrong destination.

[@patriciamariemitchel]

Thank you for that very entertaining video. When I first started watching you I thought your dogs were tranquilized or something. Then they moved and I saw that they were just very good dogs and happy to sit there with you while you were talking. 👀☺️

[@ryanm1276]

Keep up the great work Petter! Once again very informative and brilliantly produced. :-)

[@torelie6581]

Hi Mentor. Thank you for learning enthusiast like me all this. Tore, Norway:)

[@MentourPilot]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@RadioWerwolf]

I came across with your channel recently, and, as a fan of "air crush investigation report", became addicted. It is like chatting more than watching. Presentation and provided graphic / visual material are awesome. Thank you for all your efforts. One little correction, if I did not misunderstand, at 11:05, Bishkek is actually in Kyrgyzstan, not in Iran.

[@conspiracies1014]

Great Video, keep up the good work, THANKS.

[@furzkram]

But that's landing on the wrong AIRPORT, not the wrong runway!

[@danilorechi7998]

Well.. If it's the wrong airport, it's the wrong runway too

[@dimpapathe]

And country as well 🤪

[@AKULA689]

Actually the pilots the plane went where it was planned to go. It was the planning that was wrong. Correct airport correct runway. Caption should read: pilots issued wrong flight plan for passengers destination.

[@mateuszzimon8216]

@@AKULA689 In '03 Dreamlifter land on wrong airport

[@erictaylor5462]

If you don't land on the runway you have been cleared to land on, it is the wrong runway, even if that runway is nowhere close to the correct runway, like say in a different country.

[@richtrost2676]

About nearly 50 years ago a United DC-8 landed at a civilian airport at Tualatin instead of Portland, OR PDX. Stopped safely on a much shorter runway. To ferry the plane out they put only enough fuel to reach PDX, removed all the seats, hung the tail over the end of the runway and safely flew it out. Lot of news coverage on that! Runways maybe 10 miles apart and both bordering the Columbia river.

[@ZipZoomZip]

I don't understand how not a single passenger noticed the plane was flying in the wrong direction. I remember about 8 years ago I was on a direct flight from Kauai to Seattle and after leaving the airport I noticed we had levelled off at around 5,000 feet instead of climbing to normal cruise altitude. I also noticed we were flying in completely the wrong direction for Seattle. I looked around the cabin and everyone else seemed blissfully unaware. You could look down and determine which way we were flying by looking at the various major islands of Hawaii. The Big Island was still on our left. I couldn't believe it. I would have asked a flight attendant but none were nearby and so I was becoming increasingly concerned that something was wrong. After about 10 minutes I was still the only person looking around, concerned. Then the pilot came on the speaker and announced there was a minor problem and we would be landing shortly and it would be a brief stop and then we would be on our way again. However, I had done a little reading on the kind of airplane we were on (I forgot exactly, it had only two engines and no capability to dump fuel). Maybe it was a 737? In any case, I also learned this class of plane had not previously been certified for long routes over open ocean but that lobbying by the industry had resulted in approval for this type of flight. I assumed our landing so soon after take-off would be an over-weight landing and thus the brakes would have to be checked and certified to fly again. So I was confused when, upon reaching the terminal, we were told to leave our carry-on luggage on the plane. Why they would ask us to do that when we would almost certainly be on another plane is a mystery. Sure enough, after about an hour, they told us to go back on board and retrieve our luggage! We all had to stay a night in a hotel and were put on a different plane the following day. But I was shocked that no one on board seemed to even notice that we were not climbing to normal cruising altitude and travelling in the opposite direction. I'm even more shocked that a plane full of passengers could land in the wrong city and not know it until the captain announced the wrong city. How is that even possible? Was it a night flight?

[@AllanMichaelDigitano]

Really awesome videos! The intro is so cool. That you for sharing! ❤️

[@fiddley]

Liked because the dogs got a tickle, and secondarily, AWESOME CONTENT :)

[@CKOD]

I think the C-17 cargo aircraft landing at the wrong airport was definitely an interesting incident, as touchdown to full stop was caught on video. 1092M commuter airport runway instead of nearly 3500M at the nearby airforce base. (With the airforce listing 1,064M as the minimum runway length) You can practically feel the "Oh shit" with the pilot giving it full throttle reverse thrust.

[@marhawkman303]

in fairness, C-17s were designed to use shorter runways than most craft of their size. 'cause military reasons mostly, but the practical side of military reasons. You can't just make the runway bigger on command. So designing the plane to use the runway you already have is... useful.

[@arushasmusic8523]

Fascinating about confirmation bias! I had not really thought about it before, and i started to look into my own life and habits, and trying to notice instances of confirmation bias. I think this can be applied to so many situations in life, but also habits of thought and attitude and behaviour, and choices we make...I love the life lessons that I somehow end up getting in your videos!

[@tzadiko]

Wouldn't the cabin crew notice an unusual amount of German speaking for a London to Edinburgh flight?

[@sebastianorth3445]

Anyone remember when Harrison Ford landed on a taxiway?

[@stephaniepittaluga5057]

Sebastian Orth yes!! I live right next to John Wayne airport where it happened lolol

[@vbscript2]

Yeah, during the daytime, one long strip of pavement at an airport looks very much like another from the air and he was distracted by an airliner landing on a parallel runway to the one he was supposed to be landing on. But he definitely should have noticed something was wrong when there was a big airliner sitting on what he thought was the arrival end of the runway he was landing on... (which was, of course, actually a taxiway beside the runway he was supposed to land on.) The much more concerning incident, though, was Air Canada at SFO. That one was at night. I honestly have no idea how you can not notice the difference between a runway and a taxiway at night. They look completely different from the air at night, not even a little bit alike, especially at major airports like SFO where the runways have fancy approach lighting systems, touch down zone lights, etc. in addition to the normal edge lights (which are white, not blue like on taxiways,) threshold lights, PAPI, etc. These are all very bright and can be seen from dozens of miles away. By contrast, taxiways have only relatively dim blue edge lights (and some have centerline lines, but you can't easily see those from the air.) In this case, there were 4 fully-fueled widebody aircraft waiting for departure sitting on the taxiway where AC almost landed. Fortunately, the pilots of those aircraft spoke up very quickly when they saw that AC was lined up on them and not on the runway. If AC had not gone around, this would almost certainly have resulted in the deadliest disaster in the history of commercial aviation, eclipsing even the Tenerife disaster.

[@funnynickline]

P.S I love the dogs they're very cute, smart and adorable very lucky indeed.😁🙂🙏👍👍

[@dougstitt1652]

as always good job Mentour