Brian W Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Wondering if any of the old timers here remember this happening. I was told about it a few years ago by a friend. One of the stories he told me about it was that the test pilot who got it out of there was Boeing's "cowboy" - Tex Johnson. Tex is the one who did a barrel roll in the prototype 707. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRMd62MmePI Here's the video of the 707... Enjoy.. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA7kPfC5Hk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE77 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I live just a few miles from Troutdale (KTTD) - I live across the Columbia River in WA State. Never heard of this story before. Very interesting! I imagine the pilot who landed at the wrong airport never flew for United again?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I was eight years old , so no memory of this incident . Thanks Brian for posting these video's . Brad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 Thanks for sharing. I live just a few miles from Troutdale (KTTD) - I live across the Columbia River in WA State. Never heard of this story before. Very interesting! I imagine the pilot who landed at the wrong airport never flew for United again?? I'm sure he didn't... This was well before my time, but there are other incident's like this out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnE77 Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I use both KTTD and KPDX in flight sim quite a lot. Hard to figure how a pilot could have mistaken Troutdale for Portland Intl. They're on the same side of the Columbia River, but beyond that they don't have much in common…and of course KPDX is a much larger airport. Weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightsails Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Here is a nice write up about this airport, this incident is covered at the end of the article. Imagine being one of the passengers and having to wait until they could get you out of the plane! http://cni.pmgnews.com/component/content/article?id=57722 "Still, the event that the airport is most remembered for is the accidental landing on Aug. 12, 1962, of a United Airlines DC-8, coming from Chicago. The pilot, Capt. S.R. Whipple, mistook the lights of the Troutdale airport for Portland and by the time he realized his mistake, was committed and had to land on Troutdale's 4,630-foot runaway, a feat that experts had believed couldn't be done. Whipple stopped his craft three-quarters of the way down the runway and told his 81 passengers, 'We have inadvertently landed at the Troutdale airport.' In a 1978 Outlook interview, Les Meyer, the airport manager, said he threw on clothes and rode out on the airport fire truck to meet the giant plane. The worst problem, Meyer said later, was waiting for a ramp to come from Portland to get passengers off the plane. The next day, two test pilots came to fly the plane out. Drained of most of its fuel, it lifted off the runway halfway down and took off on its tail. Whipple did return to flying, retiring two years later. Ironically, he had been the third pilot to land a DC-3 there in 1948 during the flood conditions. And he was the first to land a DC-8 there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olde Tom Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I remember this landing but thought it as a Boeing plane. The account I heard said that, prior to takeout, they took down a fence at the end of the runway and even removed come of the seats. I was 22 years old, living in Seattle and working at Boeing. Does this make me an “old-timer”?? : > ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Cooper Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Hello, the links above don't work for me, if you have the same problem, please try this one. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfko Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 11 hours ago, Olde Tom said: I was 22 years old, living in Seattle and working at Boeing. Does this make me an “old-timer”?? : > ) As also you nickname implies, I am afraid it does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfko Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 On 1/7/2014 at 4:05 AM, JohnE77 said: I imagine the pilot who landed at the wrong airport never flew for United again?? Why not? Not easy to bring a DC 8 down on such a short runway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 I lived just across the river and remember the incident well. The erring pilot became something of a hero to local pilots. If could land that plane at Troutdale, he must be a hell of a stick. United Airlines didn't entirely agree. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfko Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 4 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: United Airlines didn't entirely agree. But AFAIK he he worked for UA for two more years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wakashi Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 I'd bet our old "Pal Jack" could do that easy enough, both the landing and the takeoff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Wakashi said: I'd bet our old "Pal Jack" could do that easy enough, both the landing and the takeoff! They'd have to paint the plane yellow first. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N26841 Posted February 18, 2022 Share Posted February 18, 2022 Admittedly grainy, but here is an 8mm movie of the takeoff...https://youtu.be/n8-yu2G2zUA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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