Late Wednesday evening, a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter cargo plane landed at the wrong airport, having arrived at Colonel James Jabara Airport near Wichita, Kans. instead of the McConnell Air Force Base as planned, USA Today reports, and due to the plane's massive size, officials were concerned that it wouldn't be able to take off.
"A Dreamlifter bound for McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita safely landed this evening at nearby Col. James Jabara Airport instead. We are working to determine next steps and will have additional information in the morning," Boeing said in a statement released to local media outlets after the plane landed at around 9:20 p.m.
As for why the cargo plane landed about nine miles north of its intended destination, air traffic control recordings suggest that the pilots and crew were confused about where they had landed, the pilots heard saying to the McConnell control tower: "Ahh, yes sir, we just landed at the other airport," having initially believed they had landed at Beech Factory Airport instead of Jabara. According to the city of Wichita's Twitter account, no one was injured and no property was damaged as a result of the mistaken landing.
As the Jabara Airport runway is only 6,100-feet long, and Boeing 747 jumbo jets typically use 9,000-foot long runways for takeoff, there was concern last night over whether or not the Dreamlifter would be able to get back into the air, but as of today, Thursday Nov. 21, the Dreamlifter has been scheduled for 1 p.m. ET takeoff after Boeing sent over a tug to turn it around, which broke down on the way over.
The four of Boeing's 747 Dreamlifters regularly transport large plane body and wing parts for the production of the 787 Dreamliners, which are assembled in factories in Washington state and South Carolina, according to the Wall Street Journal.
