Washington: A Boeing 747 Dreamlifter that landed unexpectedly at a small airport in Kansas has been cleared to take off again on Friday, weather permitting, a spokeswoman for the local airport authority said.
The giant cargo plane, one of just four in the world, was on its way from New York`s Kennedy International Airport to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas when it landed yesterday night at nearby Colonel James Jabara Airport, apparently by mistake.
The small general aviation airport isn`t designed to handle jumbo jets.
"We don`t know why it landed at Jabara airport instead of McConnell," said Valerie Wise, spokeswoman for the Wichita Airport Authority.
But she said, "it landed safely at 9:30 am. There was no damage to the aircraft, and no damage to the airport."
Atlas Air, which operates the aircraft, brought in a tug to turn the plane around, and its engineers ran calculations on whether it could take off again.
"They feel it is perfectly safe to take off from Jabara," Wise said.
The aircraft was scheduled to depart at noon local time (1800 GMT), if the weather allows, said Wise.
