Southwest Airlines flight lands at wrong airport

CNN reports on a bit of an embarrassing episode for Southwest Airlines:

Welcome to Branson, Missouri. Well, maybe not.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago's Midway Airport was scheduled to land at Branson Airport in southwest Missouri on Sunday night. Instead, the Boeing 737-700 touched down at Taney County airport -- about 7 miles away, and with a runway significantly shorter.

The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation on the mix-up, as has the National Transportation Safety Board. But passengers were relieved the error didn't lead to something more serious.

The Taney County airport doesn't normally handle big jets. Its runway is about half the length of the Branson airport -- 3,738 feet, compared with 7,140 feet. That required the pilot to do a lot of heavy braking as soon as the Boeing 737-700 touched down.

(h/t JMG)