The unexpected arrival of an Eirjet-operated Ryanair flight at RAF Ballykelly in clear weather and, one assumes, in daylight on 29 March, as reported in this BBC News article, is a reminder to us all of the need to positively identify the airfield we are about to land at.
As the UK AIP (Feb06) for Ballykelly AD2-EGAE 1-1 puts it: “4. Warnings: d. Pilots are reminded of the close proximity of Ballykelly 5nm to the east of this aerodrome. Ballykelly runway lighting may be observed from the final approach to Runway 26. Pilots of aircraft en-route and in the circuit should positively identify Londonderry/Eglinton before committing the aircraft to landing.”
Looking at the air chart, there is also the little matter of the last five miles of the approach to Runway 26 being over the waters of Lough Foyle!
Eirjet said the incident “involved the aircraft landing at a runway exactly in line” with the airport’s runway.
The manager of City of Derry Airport Seamus Devine said it may have been a case of the pilot relying on what he could see, rather than on his instruments. He added: “A pilot looks at the window, sees a runway, the human instinct – the visual cortex – takes over and you see a runway immediately below you, distrust your instruments, and go around and land on that runway.”
Captain Mervyn Granshaw, British Air Line Pilots’ Association said “Human beings are fallible – from simple things like putting teabags in a milk jug to the other end of the spectrum of landing at the wrong runway”
MAKES ME FEEL A LOT BETTER about my naive approach to RAF Cosford in October 1999 when I appproached and landed on the reciprocal of the active runway despite many ‘hints’ from the tower that I was going the wrong way round, and four months later my overhead join for Turweston which I realised just in time was being carried out at Hinton-in-the-Hedges about 5nm away from Turweston!
Disclaimer: The author of these missives makes no guarantee of the accuracy of these notices, and advises all readers to check the facts for themselves using the information provided.
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