And it's off! The Southwest Airlines jet, a Boeing 737, takes of from Taney County Airport around 4 p.m. EST after it mistakenly landed there Sunday evening. The airport has a much smaller runway than the Branson airport.
The Boeing 737-700, which had departed from Chicago's Midway International Airport, was scheduled to land at Branson Airport in southwest Missouri, but landed Sunday night at the tiny Taney County airport seven miles away. The plane lifted off from the airport - which has about half as much runway as the bigger airfield - on Monday afternoon. The two pilots were grounded Monday by the airline.
A Southwest Airlines jet took off without issue on a shortened runway Monday afternoon after the Boeing 737-700 landed at the wrong Missouri airport on Sunday night.
A Southwest Airlines jet took off without issue on a shortened runway Monday afternoon after the Boeing 737-700 landed at the wrong Missouri airport on Sunday night.
The plane lifted off from Taney County Airport around 4 p.m. EST Monday - nearly 20 hours after it was supposed to land at Branson airport. The two airfields are about seven miles apart, and after the mixed-up landing, the confused 124 passengers were loaded onto buses and taken to the correct airport.
The airline announced Monday that they had grounded the pilots, including the captain who had 15 years experience flying for Southwest. An investigation is underway into the mix-up.
VALERY MOSLEY/THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER/AP PHOTO
A small crowd gathers at the M. Graham Clark Airport in Hollister, Mo., Monday to see the Southwest Airlines jet that landed there by mistake. It was supposed to land at the nearby Branson Airport Sunday evening. Crews are preparing for it to take off the short runway at the small airport.
The plane was headed for Tulsa, Okla. on Monday to refuel before it was sent back into service, a Southwest spokeswoman said.
The county airport is designed for smaller aircraft and features a 3,738-foot runway — more than 3,000 feet shorter than the city’s airport.
The pilots managed to stop the Flight 4013 — which was carrying 124 passengers from Chicago — just a couple hundred feet away from the end of the tarmac, where a steep embankment leads to an interstate highway.
VALERY MOSLEY/THE SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER/AP PHOTO
A crerw inspects Southwest Airlines Flight 4013 at the M. Graham Clark Airport in Hollister, Mo. on Monday, as it prepares to take off Monday afternoon.
The county airport is meant for only smaller, private planes.
"It was surreal when I realized we could have been in real danger and instead of an inconvenience, it could have been a real tragedy," passenger Scott Schieffer told the Associated Press.
Schieffer said he and the other passengers aboard Flight 4013 weren’t aware of the mixup until the pilot told them over the intercom.
CNN
The 124 passengers aboard the flight were taken by bus to Branson Airport.
“Welcome to Branson,” the pilot reportedly said.
But after a couple of minutes, the pilot offered an apology.
“I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen. We have landed at the wrong airport,” he said.
CNN
A Southwest Airlines flight, which departed from Chicago's Midway Airport, was scheduled to land at Branson Airport, but touched ground at a smaller airport seven miles away.
The passengers were taken by bus to Branson Airport.
A spokesman for the airline could not immediately explain how the plane landed at the wrong airport. A spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration said the agency is investigating the incident.
It was the second time in two months that a large jet landed at the wrong airport.
A Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago landed at the wrong Missouri airport, which had about half as much runway.
In November, a colossal Boeing 747 Dreamlifter accidentally landed at a tiny Kansas airport — where the runway was 3,000 feet shorter than what was needed for the plane to take off.
Pilots managed to get the cargo jet back in the air a day later before it landed safely at McConnell Air Force Base, where it was originally scheduled to land.
