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Dreamlifter lands at wrong airport
A Boeing 747 Dreamlifter mistakenly lands at a small municipal airport instead of McConnell AFB.
Summary
On November 20, 2013, a Boeing 747-400 LCF (Dreamlifter) bound for McConnell Air Force Base mistakenly landed at the much smaller Colonel James Jabara Airport. The transcript captures the awkward realization by the flight crew and controllers that the massive aircraft was on the wrong runway nine miles away. The incident sparked a major logistical effort to safely fly the aircraft out of the short municipal field.
Analysis
This recording captures one of the most famous "wrong airport" landings in modern aviation history. Giant 4241, a Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter known as the "Dreamlifter," was destined for McConnell Air Force Base (KIAB) in Wichita, Kansas, to deliver components for the Boeing 787. Instead, the crew lined up for and landed at Colonel James Jabara Airport (KAAO), a small general aviation field located approximately nine miles north of their intended destination.
The technical significance of this event lies in the massive disparity between the aircraft's requirements and the airport's facilities. The Dreamlifter is one of the largest aircraft in the world. McConnell AFB has a runway over 12,000 feet long, whereas Jabara’s runway is only 6,101 feet long. The fact that the crew managed to stop the aircraft without overrunning the runway was a feat of physics, likely aided by the aircraft being relatively light at the end of its flight.
In the transcript, you can hear the "expectation bias" at play. The pilots were cleared for the RNAV approach to Runway 19L at McConnell. Seeing a runway in roughly the same orientation, they proceeded to land. The most notable moment is the deadpan delivery of the pilot: "Yes, sir. We just landed at the other airport." There is a period of mutual confusion where the pilots believe they are at Beech Factory Airport (BEC) before the controller, using radar, correctly identifies them at Jabara.
The aftermath involved significant media attention and a tense takeoff the following day. To get the aircraft out of the 6,000-foot runway, Boeing had to calculate precise performance data, remove as much fuel as possible to reduce weight, and wait for optimal weather conditions. The aircraft successfully departed the next day and landed at McConnell minutes later. The incident serves as a primary case study in aviation human factors and navigational errors.
Original ATC Communication
Plain English Translation
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, Giant 4241 Heavy is on the RNAV GPS approach, runway 19 Left.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, our large cargo jet, Giant 4241, is following the GPS-guided path to land on runway 19 Left.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower. Check wheels down, runway 19 Left. Wind 140 at 4. Cleared to land.
TOWER
Giant 4241, this is McConnell Tower. Confirm your landing gear is down for runway 19 Left. The wind is light from the southeast. You are authorized to land.
GIANT 4241
Cleared to land, runway 19 Left. Wheels down. Giant 4241 Heavy.
GIANT 4241
Authorized to land on 19 Left. Landing gear is down. Giant 4241.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, check wheels down.
TOWER
Giant 4241, please confirm your landing gear is locked down.
GIANT 4241
Giant 1441—4241, go ahead.
GIANT 4241
Giant 1441—correction, 4241, go ahead.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, check wheels down and expect a midfield turnoff at taxiway Delta.
TOWER
Giant 4241, confirm your wheels are down and plan to exit the runway halfway down at the Delta turn-off.
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241... we’ll get back to you here momentarily. We’re not on your approach.
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241... we’ll have to get back to you in a second. We aren’t actually on the path to your airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell is nine miles southeast.
TOWER
Giant 4241, McConnell Air Force Base is actually nine miles southeast of your current position.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. We just landed at the other airport.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. It looks like we just landed at the other airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower.
TOWER
Giant 4241... this is McConnell Tower. Come again?
GIANT 4241
Apparently, we’ve landed at BEC.
GIANT 4241
Apparently, we have landed at the Beechcraft factory airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, verify you are on the ground at Beech Airport?
TOWER
Giant 4241, can you confirm that you are currently on the ground at Beech Airport?
GIANT 4241
We think so.
GIANT 4241
We think so.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell supervisor verifies you are full-stop landed and stopped at Beech Airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241, our supervisor here has confirmed that your plane is at a complete stop at Beech Airport.
GIANT 4241
Affirmative.
GIANT 4241
That is correct.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower. Are you able to make a departure off that airport and back in the air to McConnell?
TOWER
Giant 4241, this is the tower at McConnell. Are you actually going to be able to take off from that small runway and fly back here to our base?
GIANT 4241
We’re working on those details now, sir.
GIANT 4241
We’re running the numbers and figuring those details out right now, sir.
TOWER
Roger.
TOWER
Understood.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, Giant 4241.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, this is Giant 4241.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower.
TOWER
Giant 4241, we hear you.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. Is there a tower frequency here for Beech?
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. Is there a radio channel for the control tower here at the Beech airport?
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, Beech Tower is actually closed at this time. It's on UNICOM.
TOWER
Giant 4241, the tower at Beech is actually closed for the night. You’ll have to use the shared advisory channel that pilots use to talk to each other.
GIANT 4241
Okay. Is there a UNICOM frequency?
GIANT 4241
Okay. Do you have the number for that shared radio channel?
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, standby.
TOWER
Giant 4241, hang on just a second.
GIANT 4241
And one more thing. Do you have the coordinates for the airport?
GIANT 4241
And one more thing. Do you have the exact GPS coordinates for the airport we're sitting at?
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, standby on that.
TOWER
Giant 4241, wait one moment while I look those up.
GIANT 4241
Okay, thanks.
GIANT 4241
Okay, thank you.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, I have the coordinates for Jabara.
TOWER
Giant 4241, I have the GPS location for the Jabara airport.
GIANT 4241
Ready to copy. Go ahead.
GIANT 4241
I'm ready to write that down. Go ahead.
TOWER
Beech is Kilo-Bravo-Echo-Charlie. North 37 degrees, 41.64. West 97 degrees, 12.90.
TOWER
The code for the Beech airport is K-B-E-C. The location is North 37 degrees, 41.64, and West 97 degrees, 12.90.
GIANT 4241
Okay, let me read those back. North 37, 41.64?
GIANT 4241
Okay, let me repeat those back to you to make sure I have them right. North 37 degrees, 41.64 minutes?
TOWER
Affirmative.
TOWER
That’s correct.
GIANT 4241
Okay. And then East 92, 12.90?
GIANT 4241
Okay. And then was the other one East 92 degrees, 12.90 minutes?
TOWER
West 97 degrees, 12.90.
TOWER
It is West 97 degrees, 12.90.
GIANT 4241
Sorry about that, I couldn’t read my handwriting. West 97, 12 decimal 90.
GIANT 4241
Sorry about that, I’m having trouble reading my own handwriting. West 97, 12 point 90.
TOWER
West 97, 12 decimal 90.
TOWER
West 97, 12 point 90.
GIANT 4241
Okay, 97, 12 decimal 90. All right, here are the coordinates we're showing currently: North 37, 44 decimal 4. West 097, 13 decimal 3.
GIANT 4241
Okay, 97, 12 point 90. All right, here are the coordinates our navigation system is showing right now: North 37 degrees, 44.4 and West 97 degrees, 13.3.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. Standby. Giant 4241 Heavy, can you confirm? Did you do a circle around the airport and then land, or did you make a straight-in?
TOWER
Giant 4241, the heavy aircraft, I understand. Hang on a second. Giant 4241, can you confirm—did you fly a circle around the airfield before landing, or did you just fly straight onto the runway?
GIANT 4241
Straight-in, sir.
GIANT 4241
We flew straight in, sir.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. Giant 4241 Heavy, can you say your coordinates again?
TOWER
Giant 4241, copy that. Giant 4241, could you repeat your current coordinates for me one more time?
GIANT 4241
All right. Currently, we’re showing North 37, 44 decimal 4. West 097, 13 decimal 3. We've got some gentlemen that are outside the aircraft now.
GIANT 4241
All right. Right now, we’re seeing North 37 degrees, 44.4 and West 97 degrees, 13.3. There are actually some people standing outside the plane here on the ground now.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. Do you have a frequency by chance?
TOWER
Giant 4241, copy. Do you happen to have a radio frequency for that airport by any chance?
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241 Heavy, from the target we saw on the radar scope, you were overtop—the target was overtop of Jabara Airport, which is approximately eight miles north of McConnell Airport. UNICOM frequency is 122.7. I say again, 122.7.
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241, based on the blip we saw on our radar screen, you were directly over Jabara Airport, which is about eight miles north of us here at McConnell. Their local radio frequency is 122.7. I repeat, 122.7.
GIANT 4241
All right, this gentleman is giving us a frequency. We're going to try it on 122.7 as well. McConnell Tower, Giant 4241.
GIANT 4241
All right, a man down here on the ground is giving us a radio channel. We’re going to try that 122.7 frequency as well. McConnell Tower, this is Giant 4241.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower.
TOWER
Giant 4241, the heavy aircraft, this is McConnell Tower.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. We are in contact with the company right now. We're getting performance data analyzed.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. We’re talking to our headquarters right now to have them run the numbers on whether we can safely take off from here.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger.
TOWER
Giant 4241, the large cargo jet, I understand.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, and confirm you know which airport you’re at?
TOWER
Giant 4241, can you confirm you actually know which airport you just landed at?
GIANT 4241
Well, we think we have a pretty good pulse. Let me ask you this: how many airports directly to the south of runway 19 are there?
GIANT 4241
Well, we think we have a handle on it. But let me ask you: how many airports are there directly south of the runway we were aiming for?
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, you're currently north of McConnell, and there are three along the McConnell final approach.
TOWER
Giant 4241, you are actually north of the Air Force base, and there are three different airports lined up along the path to our runway.
GIANT 4241
I’m sorry, I was looking at something else. We are showing about six miles north of you.
GIANT 4241
I'm sorry, I was distracted by something else. Our instruments show we're about six miles north of where you are.
TOWER
Copy, six miles north.
TOWER
Got it, you're six miles north.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, affirmative. Right now, we're still trying to figure it out.
TOWER
Giant 4241, that's right. Honestly, we're still trying to pin down exactly where you put that plane down.
GIANT 4241
Okay, thanks. We just had a twin-engine aircraft—a turboprop aircraft—go over the top of us.
GIANT 4241
Okay, thanks. A small propeller plane with two engines just flew right over the top of us.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. It appears that you're at Jabara. Say again? Giant 4241 Heavy, we saw the plane on the radar and it appears that you are at Jabara Airport. Say the name of it again?
TOWER
Giant 4241, I see. It looks like you're at the small Jabara Airport. Can you repeat that? Giant 4241, we tracked you on radar and it looks like you've landed at Jabara. Can you say that name back to me?
TOWER
Jabara.
TOWER
Jabara Airport.
GIANT 4241
Jabara.
GIANT 4241
Jabara.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, that's J-A-B-A-R-R-A.
TOWER
Giant 4241, that's spelled J-A-B-A-R-R-A.
GIANT 4241
Okay. All right, we'll copy that. Okay, and we also show that we're just short of—about a mile short of Warren now.
GIANT 4241
Okay, we've got that. And our screen shows we're about a mile away from a place called Warren.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. Yes, that's Jabara.
TOWER
Giant 4241, understood. Yes, that's definitely the Jabara airport.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, Giant 4241.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, this is Giant 4241.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower.
TOWER
Giant 4241, this is McConnell Tower. Go ahead.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. It looks like we do confirm that it is Jabara.
GIANT 4241
Yes, sir. We’ve confirmed it—it looks like we definitely landed at the small Jabara airport by mistake.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger.
TOWER
Giant 4241, I understand.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, say intentions?
TOWER
Giant 4241, what are your plans now?
GIANT 4241
We're talking to the company now. We're trying to assess our performance situation as far as being able to leave this airport and come to you.
GIANT 4241
We’re talking to our company headquarters right now. We’re trying to calculate if this runway is long enough for a plane our size to safely take off and fly over to your airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger. Just keep us advised. We have a Tanker on one-mile final.
TOWER
Giant 4241, understood. Just keep us posted. We have a refueling tanker about a mile away from landing here.
GIANT 4241
Okay. Yeah, we will not take off without clearing through you as well.
GIANT 4241
Okay. Yeah, we definitely won’t try to take off without getting official clearance from you first.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger.
TOWER
Giant 4241, copy that.
TURBO 72
McConnell Tower, Turbo 72 Heavy is ten miles out on the RNAV GPS, looking for McConnell Tower.
TURBO 72
McConnell Tower, this is Turbo 72. We’re ten miles out using our satellite navigation, headed toward the tower.
TOWER
Turbo 72 Heavy, McConnell Tower. Roger, report final approach fix, runway 19 Left.
TOWER
Turbo 72, McConnell Tower. I see you; let us know when you reach the final waypoint for your approach to the left runway.
TURBO 72
Turbo 72.
TURBO 72
Turbo 72, will do.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, Giant 4241.
GIANT 4241
McConnell Tower, this is Giant 4241 again.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower.
TOWER
Giant 4241, go ahead.
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241, do you have a three-letter identifier for Jabara?
GIANT 4241
Giant 4241, do you have the three-letter navigation code for this Jabara airport?
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, it's Alpha-Alpha-Oscar.
TOWER
Giant 4241, you are at the Jabara airport.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, McConnell Tower. Can you confirm you are on the runway?
TOWER
Giant 4241, this is the tower at McConnell. Can you confirm that you have touched down on the runway?
GIANT 4241
Affirmative. And I am on the UNICOM frequency as well, talking to local traffic. We're trying to assess our situation as far as clearing the runway at this time.
GIANT 4241
Yes, we have. I’m also on the local radio frequency right now, talking to the smaller planes in the area. We’re trying to figure out our next move and how we’re going to get this massive jet off the runway.
TOWER
Giant 4241 Heavy, roger.
TOWER
Understood, Giant 4241.
TOWER
Turbo 72 Heavy, McConnell supervisor. We apparently have a situation at Jabara Airport. We'll let you do a practice approach for now. We may need you to full-stop based on the conditions at that airport.
TOWER
Turbo 72, this is the supervisor at McConnell. It looks like we have a situation developing over at Jabara Airport. You can keep doing your practice runs for now, but we might need you to land and stay on the ground depending on how things go over there.
TURBO 72
Roger, Turbo 72 copies. Let us know.
TURBO 72
Understood, Turbo 72 has the message. Just keep us posted.
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