Huge Jumbo Lands At Wrong Kansas Airport

A huge Boeing 747 Dreamlifter cargo plane landed at a tiny airport by mistake, the planemaker has admitted.

The aircraft came down safely at Colonel James Jabara Airport, about nine miles from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita where it was supposed to land.

Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel says the Dreamlifter was bound for McConnell because it is adjacent to Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier for the Dreamliner.

He did not say why or how the plane landed at the wrong airport.

But reports said the the Dreamlifter's pilots could have confused it for McConnell.

Later, the aircraft safely took off from Colonel James Jabara Airport amid suggestions it could have been difficult as the Jabara runway is 3,000ft short of the length a 747 typically needs. The airport also does not have a control tower.

However, Brad Christopher, of the Wichita Airport Authority, said the plane, which has a wingspan of 211.5ft (64.44m) and is more than 235ft long, was safe for a normal departure.

"They've assured us they've run all the engineering calculations, performance and the aircraft is safe for a normal departure at its current weight and conditions here."

Fully loaded the Dreamlifter requires a runway more than 9,000ft (2,700m) to take off but Jabara's runway is 6,101ft (1,860m) long.

Mr Christopher said airport property was not damaged and there were no injuries as a result of the unexpected arrival.

"Everything looks fine," he told reporters, adding that new pilots would be arriving to fly the plane out.

Spirit makes the forward section, or nose area, of the jet's fuselage and Boeing uses four modified 747s to haul parts for the new plane's construction.

Boeing said on its website: "The Boeing Dreamlifter is a modified 747-400 passenger airplane that can haul more cargo by volume than any airplane in the world.

"It is the primary means of transporting major assemblies of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from suppliers around the world to the 787 final assembly site in Everett, Washington.

"This reduces delivery times to as little as one day from as many as 30 days."

Jabara Airport is named after World War Two and Korean War flying ace James Jabara.