Landing At The Wrong Airport Can Be Fun... Not!

An easy mistake led to a big problem for a Kentucky pilot. Neal Smith and his passenger spent several hours as... um... guests of security forces at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last month.

Smith was on a flight plan from Jacksonville to land at Peter O. Knight Airport in Tampa. He was going there to get his multi-engine CFI rating. So how did he wind up visiting security forces at MacDill?

Because Smith landed at MacDill instead of the airport in Tampa.

Both airports sit at the end of separate peninsulas jutting into Tampa Bay. From the direction Smith was flying, the two runways are almost aligned with each other. MacDill's peninsula -- and its runway -- is bigger, and probably easier to see from a distance.

Tower controllers at MacDill saw the twin-engine Piper approaching and broadcast repeated warnings by radio. They even flashed a red light at the aircraft. That's the visual signal telling a pilot he's not cleared to land. Despite the warnings, Smith landed at MacDill around 9:00am on September 28th.

Base spokesman Lieutenant Larry van der Oord said security forces immediately surrounded the aircraft, taking Smith and his passenger into custody for questioning.

"All personnel involved responded appropriately to the incident," van der Oord said. "This was just a case of a pilot's lack of situational awareness."

The pair were released after Smith convinced Air Force authorities he wasn't a terrorist and had no other criminal intent.

As far as the Air Force is concerned... that's the end of it.

Not so for the FAA. That agency is conducting its own investigation to determine exactly what happened. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said an investigation could take months.

Smith faces a range of punishment -- from a warning, to revocation of his license.

FMI: www.faa.gov