US plane lands at wrong airport

A Boeing 747 Dreamlifter cargo
plane will attempt to take off from
a minor airport in Kansas after it
landed there by mistake.
The giant cargo jet was heading
for McConnell air force base in
Wichita but instead touched down
at nearby Colonel James Jabara
airport.
Airport officials believe the plane
will be able to depart despite the
much shorter runway at Jabara.
An attempt is scheduled for noon
local time (18:00 GMT) on
Thursday.
The aircraft normally needs a
runway of 2,780m (9,119ft) to get
airborne at maximum weight;
Jabara's runway is only 1,860m
long.
A tug was dispatched to the
airport to turn around the giant
cargo plane.
Brad Christopher of the Wichita
Airport Authority told the
Associated Press news agency the
company that operates the aircraft
had "assured us they've run all
the engineering calculation and
performance and the aircraft is
very safe for a normal departure
at its current weight and
conditions here".
The Dreamlifter, which landed at
Jabara on Wednesday evening, is
a modified 747-400 passenger
aeroplane, which can carry more
cargo by volume than any
aeroplane in the world, according
to Boeing.
The aerospace company uses its
fleet of four Dreamlifters to
transport large assembled
components of its 787 Dreamliner
from suppliers around the world
to the final assembly location in
Washington state.
The City of Wichita tweeted that
no-one was injured and no
property damage occurred when
the plane landed.