Grounded Until Investigation Is Complete

Two Northwest Airlines A-319 crew members are grounded, after they landed over the weekend -- not at their intended destination of Rapid City (SD), but at Ellsworth AFB, seven miles away.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Monday that the two pilots "have been held from service" until the investigation into Saturday's mistaken landing is finished.

As ANN reported Monday, the Airbus, carrying 117 passengers from Minneapolis (MN) to Rapid City, landed on the wrong field, something the FAA described as very far out of the norm. The aircraft was grounded for more than three hours as the flight crew was first questioned, then replaced by another NWA crew.

A spokeswoman for the Air Force base said the pilots were IMC as they approached Rapid City Regional Airport. When they broke out of the clouds, the first runway they saw was at Ellsworth. So, she said, they simply landed. Only as they were on short final did the pilots reportedly notice that they were in the wrong place.

FMI: www.nwa.com