Emily wrote:

Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...

I can certainly see how one could taxi to the wrong runway and even
line up on it. But taking off on it is inexcusable. One of the last
checks I was taught to make before firewalling the throttle is to
check that the heading of the airplane matches the runway to which I
was cleared for takeoff. It takes less than two seconds to make this
check and it will catch this error every time.


Perhaps they did, and when they found the 40 degree error they reset
the gyro to correct the discrepancy.

Speaking for myself, if I get on a runway and see an error that large, I
check to see if something else has been wrong. Especially if I'm IFR, I
don't want a 40 degree error on my DG.

That being said, I almost took off on the wrong runway once, and figured
it out before I did. It does happen, probably more than the public
realizes.

I landed on the wrong runway at Reading, PA early in my flying career.
I was cleared for a right downwind to R36 and hadn't made many right
traffic patterns before. I wasn't paying sufficient attention and ended
up lining up on 31 and didn't cross-check the DG as I should have. I
noticed the error at almost the same time the controller did, but
traffic wasn't a factor so he just came on quickly and said something
like "it appears you are lined up for 31 rather than 36, cleared to land
31."

I definitely understand how this can happen which is one reason I'm much
more careful now about cross-checking with the compass and DG,
especially when flying IFR.

Matt