Pull out the ALT Manual

[wnbubbleboy]

Jay Mikulski and his family were flying home from Orlando, Fla., when the Southwest Airlines 737 they were on made an unscheduled landing Sunday afternoon at the Purdue University Airport.

"We landed here thinking we were in Indianapolis until we saw the Purdue sign," said Mikulski, of Mokena, Ill., who was returning with his wife, three children and in-laws.

The airplane headed to Chicago's Midway Airport landed without incident in West Lafayette about 1:45 p.m. Sunday "because it had been in a holding pattern so long due to weather in Chicago," Purdue University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said.




http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti.../605010306/1152

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

I guess this was sort of appropriate, since it is a little known fact that Don Ogden (orig VP-Flight Opns for Southwest) hired many, many, many of the original Southwest pilots from supplemental carrier Purdue Airlines when that airline ceased operations.

Purdue flew DC-9s thus it was necessary to send most to Denver for training on the 737-200 at United.

If my memory serves me correctly, Southwest's original "Chief Hostess"...was a lady named Jan Arnold who also came from Purdue.

In addition to their duties with the supplemental/charter carrier Purdue Airlines, while at Purdue, Jan and her staff provided training for the Bunny Hostesses employed by Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner.

 

[JS]

Lucky dogs! With no scheduled flights, it's pretty expensive to say you've flown to LAF. They got to fly there for free!

 

[a320av8r]

Sounds like he either waited too long to divert or else didn't have the correct fuel load to begin with.
Did they have screening at Purdue or was homeland security violated???
Another serious incident made into a joke by WN. :down:

This Bud's for you "Mr. Discount Airline Pilot Guy".

 

[wnbubbleboy]

Sounds like he either waited too long to divert or else didn't have the correct fuel load to begin with.
Did they have screening at Purdue or was homeland security violated???
Another serious incident made into a joke by WN. :down:

This Bud's for you "Mr. Discount Airline Pilot Guy".

Purdue police officers and firefighters were on hand at the airport to assist with questions from passengers.


Lighten up, Francis.

 

[KCFlyer]

Sounds like he either waited too long to divert or else didn't have the correct fuel load to begin with.
Did they have screening at Purdue or was homeland security violated???
Another serious incident made into a joke by WN. :down:

This Bud's for you "Mr. Discount Airline Pilot Guy".

You must know more than the story relayed? He diverted. I'd lend your post more creedance if he had to GLIDE into Purdue. I swear...you bitter pilots of competing airlines make it seem like you'd divert to Atlanta on an JFK-FLL flight if inclement weather was forecast so you could land and insure that you had your minimum fuel requirements met. Your concerns for security are admirable...perhaps on your next flight, you'll risk avoiding the NEAREST AVAILABLE AIRPORT to land, and put your passengers at an even GREATER risk so as not to anger the TSA.

 

[a320av8r]

It's "nearest suitable airport". Did he have charts for Purdue, do they have the facilities to handle a 737, how does the captain know? You don't just drop in to an airport. If he'd diverted when he should or had the correct fuel he would have gone to his planned alternate. As it was he must have been close to gliding. FAA will determine why he landed at Purdue and not an online or regular alternate or "suitable" airport if it was not an emergency...

 

[KCFlyer]

It's "nearest suitable airport". Did he have charts for Purdue, do they have the facilities to handle a 737, how does the captain know? You don't just drop in to an airport. If he'd diverted when he should or had the correct fuel he would have gone to his planned alternate. As it was he must have been close to gliding. FAA will determine why he landed at Purdue and not an online or regular alternate or "suitable" airport if it was not an emergency...

Ya know...I don't know. But I'll bet you don't know for sure either. Yet you make an ASSumption.

 

[ELP_WN_Psgr]

As it was he must have been close to gliding. FAA will determine why he landed at Purdue and not an online or regular alternate or "suitable" airport if it was not an emergency...

If you have the facts to back up that claim, we would like to see them.

If you do not have the facts, then why are making an unsubstantiated claim that?

Message boards and bulletin boards are fine for arguing the relative merits or lack thereof for different airline companies.

They should not become a place for folks to engage in character assassination.

Sooner or later, some company is going to have had enough in terms of seeing its employees subjected to vicious rumormongering and unsubstantiated criticism.

At that point in time some lawyers are going to have a field day eviscerating the assets of the individual who engaged in the trash talk.

At any rate, it's not like the pilot put the aircraft down on an interstate highway or the playground in a city park. It was an airport known to have accommodated Air Force 1 as well as served as the headquarters for a charter airline operating DC9s.

An airport capable of those operations can be safely thought of as having 737 capabilities.

 

[a320av8r]

At any rate, it's not like the pilot put the aircraft down on an interstate highway or the playground in a city park. It was an airport known to have accommodated Air Force 1 as well as served as the headquarters for a charter airline operating DC9s.

An airport capable of those operations can be safely thought of as having 737 capabilities.

It isn't that easy...

WN screwed up again.

 

[FWAAA]

Purdue graduates quite a few pilots, so it wouldn't surprise me if one of the flight crew was very familiar with LAF.

With one runway 7,651' and the other 5,211' there was plenty of pavement for a WN 737.

http://www.naco.faa.gov/content/naco/onlin...ams/00865AD.pdf

We can only hope that a320av8r or one of his/her co-workers mistakenly lands at a closed airfield someday. That's happened at several airlines.

 

[PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH]

It's "nearest suitable airport". Did he have charts for Purdue, do they have the facilities to handle a 737, how does the captain know? You don't just drop in to an airport. If he'd diverted when he should or had the correct fuel he would have gone to his planned alternate. As it was he must have been close to gliding. FAA will determine why he landed at Purdue and not an online or regular alternate or "suitable" airport if it was not an emergency...

So if the airport doesn't have a passenger terminal,it is an unsuitable airport for a 737? Give me a break. A suitable airport is one with a long enough runway and a fuel truck with some Jet A in it. We have diverted flights come into AFW all the time because of stormy weather over at DFW. Alliance doesn't have a "airline" passenger terminal so I guess you would rather run out of gas then land here.

 

[tulswa]

It isn't that easy...

WN screwed up again.

At my airline we manage to screw up a few things every day. People are human and they make mistakes and it happens at every airline.

If you choose to pass judgement on this crew based upon a newspaper report, you must not have been in the aviation business very long.

 

[N924PS]

It's "nearest suitable airport". Did he have charts for Purdue, do they have the facilities to handle a 737, how does the captain know? You don't just drop in to an airport. If he'd diverted when he should or had the correct fuel he would have gone to his planned alternate. As it was he must have been close to gliding. FAA will determine why he landed at Purdue and not an online or regular alternate or "suitable" airport if it was not an emergency...

Not necessarily. Remember it is a "Flight Plan." Sometimes plans change due to circumstances beyond the control of the flight crew and or dispatcher.

As long as the flight was planned per the applicable FAR's it is perfectly acceptable to modify the actual flight. Also as long as it is done legally.

"Nearest suitable airport" applies for engine failure.
There are a lot of factors involved here so don't second guess the crew/dispatcher until all the facts are known.

I have diverted several times over the years but not always to a planned alternate. Most of the time the actual alternate was a better decision all around for handling, etc.

 

[magsau]

It isn't that easy...

WN screwed up again.

The questions that needs to be asked and will most likely be asked by the FAA. Is Purdue an approved alternate airport in the company's opspecs? If not then this was yet again a infringment on the safety at the airline. If it was not approved the Captain would have to use his emergency authority to land at a non opsspec airport. Fine and dandy but you better have solid reasons for waiting so long and the need to use your emergency authority.

I am sure this was probably the airports fault though.....