Updated — 2:20 p.m. ET
An enormous cargo plane, a Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, mistakenly landed late Wednesday at the wrong airport in Wichita and was stuck there overnight. It finally took off around 2 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The Dreamlifter landed at Jabara.
Joseph Graybill
@jr_graybill
The Dreamlifter landed at Jabara.
Atlas Air Flight 4241 originated in New York and was scheduled to land at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, but instead landed at the smaller Jabara Airport a few miles away.
The mammoth plane needs 9,199 feet of runway to take off at maximum weight, but the runway length at Jabara is just 6,101 feet.
Sittin at Jabara watching the Dreamlifter that doesn't belong... #lifefail
Caleb Carey
@ccarey206
Sittin at Jabara watching the Dreamlifter that doesn't belong... #lifefail
It is not known why the plane landed at the smaller airport but it appears to have been a mistake.
Air traffic control audio recorded during the incident shows the disoriented pilots thought they had landed at Beech Factory Airport in Wichita before realizing they were actually at Jabara.
Tower: "Do you know which airport you're at?"
Pilot: "Well we think we have a pretty good pulse -- how many airports directly to the south ... are there?"
ATC recordings show #DreamLifter pilots thought they landed at Beech Field, not McConnell -- they were really at Jabara #breaking @KWCH12
Brian Gregory
@KWCH12NDBrian
ATC recordings show #DreamLifter pilots thought they landed at Beech Field, not McConnell -- they were really at Jabara #breaking @KWCH12
At 9:26pm #Dreamlifter pilots ask for tower freq at Beech Field (told it's closed)...then ask for airport coords
Brian Gregory
@KWCH12NDBrian
At 9:26pm #Dreamlifter pilots ask for tower freq at Beech Field (told it's closed)...then ask for airport coords
Atlas Air #DreamLifter pilots have flown to #McConnell at least 26 times since August 23, 2013 according to #FlightAware @ricktillery
Brian Gregory
@KWCH12NDBrian
Atlas Air #DreamLifter pilots have flown to #McConnell at least 26 times since August 23, 2013 according to #FlightAware @ricktillery
Boeing sent a tug from its Wichita facilities to the airport to try to turn around the Dreamlifter, but that could take some time...
Because on the way to the airport early Thursday, the tug broke down. Another tug was brought in later in the day.
PHOTO: Tug headed to Jabara Airport to move #dreamlifter broke down along Webb. #kwch12 #kwchtraffic
KWCH Eyewitness News
@KWCH12
PHOTO: Tug headed to Jabara Airport to move #dreamlifter broke down along Webb. #kwch12 #kwchtraffic
