Video: C-17 Accidentally Lands at Small GA Airport

Bethany Whitfield

Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 10:14 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

A C-17 Globemaster III military transport plane inadvertently landed at the much smaller Peter O. Knight General Aviation airport, mistaking it for MacDill Air Force Base.
The large aircraft, carrying 42 people, successfully landed on the GA airport's significantly shorter 3,405-foot runway, stopping within 10 feet of the end.
After spending hours on the tarmac and having its load lightened, the C-17 successfully departed from the small airport with a new crew.
This incident is not unique, as Peter O. Knight has been mistakenly confused for MacDill by other large aircraft in the past, prompting an Air Force investigation.

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A C-17 Globemaster III headed for MacDill Air Force Base on Friday afternoon landed “inadvertently” at the much smaller Peter O. Knight GA airport located just a few miles away, according to airport authorities.

The 174-foot-long transport touched down on the airport’s 3,405-foot-long, 100-foot-wide runway around 1:30 p.m., coming to a stop within 10 feet of the runway’s end, according to witnesses. The C-17 had flown in from Southwest Asia with 42 people on board, 19 of whom were crewmembers. View a shaky video capturing the landing below.