Wooooooops ....

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:49 am

Plane lands at airbase by mistake

The plane landed at an Army base six miles away

A passenger jet which was destined for City of Derry Airport has landed at an Army base six miles away by mistake.

The Liverpool to Derry service, operated by Eirjet on behalf of Ryanair, landed at Ballykelly airstrip at 1440 BST.

Ryanair said in a statement it was due to an "error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport".

The 39 passengers were taken by coach from Ballykelly to the airport.

One of the passengers said everyone was completely surprised when they realised what had happened.

'Surreal'

He said: "The pilot apologised and said, 'We may have arrived at the wrong airport'.

"Everyone started laughing and thought it was a joke, then I saw for myself when I looked out and saw Army officers everywhere.

The plane had been destined for City of Derry Airport

"It was just unbelievable, I think the Army officers were shocked themselves (as) they were taking photographs. It was surreal."

Another passenger said they had to wait on the plane while stairs were brought from the airport.

"Unfortunately they didn't let us go down the slide," he added.

In its statement, Ryanair said it had notified the civil aviation authorities in the UK and Ireland of the incident.

"We have also asked Eirjet, the operator of the aircraft to carry out a full investigation into this matter, as in over seven years of Ryanair flights into City of Derry airport, and over 20 years of Ryanair-operated flights, such a mistake has never occurred before," it added.

The aircraft is estimated to be a 200-seater jet. The scheduled return flight to Liverpool was cancelled.

The airstrip at Ballykelly is primarily used by Army helicopters and light aircraft. It was built for huge military planes, making it one of the longest on the island.

It is not yet clear how the plane will be removed from the Army base. Eirjet is expected to release a statement

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:08 pm

Soooo... you think that pilot still has a job?

:D

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:10 pm

valerie wrote: Soooo... you think that pilot still has a job?

:D

Maybe it was air traffic control....good job the air base had a long runway.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:13 pm

Oh good point, I didn't even think of that!

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 12:21 pm

valerie wrote: Oh good point, I didn't even think of that!

Whoever it was Val is in for a HEAP of trouble.