Commuter Flight Lands at Wrong Airport

Stephen Pope

Thursday, August 09, 2012 at 08:46 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A Silver Airways Saab 340 on a United Express-coded flight mistakenly landed at Fairmont Municipal Airport (4G7) instead of its intended destination, North Central West Virginia Airport (KCKB).
Fairmont's runway is significantly shorter (3,194 ft vs. 7,000 ft) and has weight restrictions, necessitating plans to offload fuel and remove seats to allow the turboprop to depart; passengers were driven to KCKB.

See a mistake? Contact us.

A Saab 340 operated by Silver Airways on a scheduled flight to North Central West Virginia Airport (KCKB) on Tuesday night mistakenly landed at a much smaller airport in Fairmont, West Virginia (4G7), less than five miles away.

The landing by the United Express-coded turboprop happened during Silver Airway’s first week of service to KCKB. Fairmont Municipal Airport’s runway is 3,194 feet versus 7,000 feet at the intended destination.