September 02, 2018
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
An American Airlines plane lands at the Philadelphia International Airport. American Airlines is adding new flights from Philadelphia International Airport to destinations in Florida this winter.
An American Airlines flight from Philadelphia arrived in Fort Myers 25 minutes late this week, after it nearly landed at the wrong airport.
The aircraft was intended for Southwest Florida International, but was about to land at the nearby Page Field when air traffic controllers were able to get it on track.
According to Flight Aware, flight 862 departed from Philadelphia and landed safely at Southwest Florida International shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday, about 25 minutes late. The two airports are about seven-and-a-half miles apart.
Page Field was the commercial airport of the region up until Southwest Florida International opened back in May 1983.
You can see the flight path on tracking website Flight Aware, which shows the unusual aircraft's blunder, as it veers left early, as to go to Page Field, and then loops back around to Southwest International.
“The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the operation,” agency spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told The News-Press.
A commercial pilot told The News-Press there was not any imminent danger in the situation, just one embarrassed pilot.
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