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BELFAST (AFP) – “This is your captain speaking: er, I’ve landed at the wrong airport. Er, sorry.”
A bungling pilot flew straight into the centre of an investigation Wednesday after mistakenly landing at a military airbase rather than the regular destination in Northern Ireland.
Thirty-nine passengers and six crew were on board a Ryanair flight from Liverpool, northwest England, which was due to touchdown at City of Derry airport.
However, the pilot cruised into Ballykelly airfield — five miles (eight kilometres) away.
Surprised passengers were taken off and coached to City of Derry, leaving the plane grounded on the orders of concerned aviation authorities, who demanded an immediate investigation.
Budget airline Ryanair said the flight was operated by Eirjet on its behalf.
“This incident arose as a result of an error by the Eirjet’s pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry airport,” Ryanair said in a statement.
“The Eirjet pilot was cleared by Air Traffic Control in City of Derry for a visual approach and mistook the nearby Ballykelly for City of Derry.
Ryanair asked Eirjet to carry out a full investigation.
“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.”
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From Yahoo News