Flight almost lands at wrong airport
Authorities are investigating how an American Airlines’ flight came close to landing at the wrong airport in Florida.
Flight 862 was scheduled to land at Southwest Florida International but took a wrong turning on the approach and was lined up to land at nearby Page Field.
Page Field was area’s main commercial airport before Southwest Florida International opened in 1983 and is now only used for executive jets.
Air traffic controllers quickly alerted the pilots to their error and guided them back on course to the right airport, an FAA statement said.
"The FAA is looking into the operation," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Berger said.
"Whilst we don’t have the numbers available on this, it’s unusual."
The flight, from Philadelphia, had descended as low as 800 feet when the error was corrected, and was then forced to climb again to about 1,500 feet.
Page Field is about seven miles away from Southwest Florida International.
The plane landed safely at the right destination about 25 minutes late.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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