‘That’s Crazy’: Midair Confusion as Pilot Told He’s Not Speaking With Wrong Airport Tower While On Approach to Land

Delta pilots found themselves communicating with the wrong airport tower in New York City when they were just a couple of miles from beginning their landing.

CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave reported on Tuesday evening about confusion between the LaGuardia and JFK airports that could have turned out far worse. A Delta jet was ready to land when the pilot realized they were talking to the wrong tower, about 10 miles away from where they actually needed to be communicating.

Check out part of the exchange between the pilot and the air traffic controller below:

PILOT: Two-mile final, Brickyard 5752.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Two-mile final where?

PILOT: Runway 4.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: At LaGuardia?

PILOT: Yes, ma’am.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER:This is Kennedy Tower. Please go to LaGuardia tower.

PILOT: Oh my goodness. Alright.

The miscommunication was so unusual that another pilot commented on the radio.

“That’s crazy,” they said.

Robert Sumwalt, an aviation safety analyst for CBS News and the former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said he’s never seen a situation quite like the Delta one, and that’s with 24 years as an airline pilot on his resume.

“What if the airplane would have landed at LaGuardia without receiving landing clearance? It would have been a very bad mistake,” he said, adding, “I flew for 31 years. I was an airline pilot for 24 years. I’ve not heard of this particular error occurring,” he said.

The plane ended up landing safely at LaGuardia following the confusion, and the FAA has said they are now “looking into” the situation.

The midair confusion comes after an Air Canada passenger jet collided with a fire truck on the runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport earlier this month, leaving two pilots dead. An air traffic controller could be heard at the time saying, “I messed up.”

Watch above via CBS News.

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