A trio of minor runway mishaps on Saturday and Sunday caused some anxious moments and inconvenience for some pilots as traffic poured in to Wittman Field for AirVenture 2023. EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said that on Saturday the pilot of a Bonanza landed on the opposite runway to which he or she was cleared. According to people who heard the resulting mayhem on the radio, controllers frantically ordered the pilots of aircraft on final for the correct runway to go around and sent those on their way to the runway to hold areas.
On Sunday, an aircraft landed with a flat tire. It had to be pulled off the runway and the surface checked and cleaned of debris. An aircraft on amphibious floats landed with the gear partly retracted and that required a similar response. He said in both cases the runway reopened within about 30 minutes and normal traffic resumed. He said there were no injuries and the incidents are typical of the mishaps that occur from time to time at the show.
The difference this time was that the results of the closures were widely discussed in social media. There was speculation the arrivals system was breaking down and that FAA staff shortages were to blame. FAA spokeswoman Martha Threatt said a full complement of staff is on hand at Oshkosh and there has been no internal discussion of flow problems at the show. “It’s just volume,” she said. EAA CEO Jack Pelton said arrival numbers are on par with last year’s and half of a vehicle parking lot had to be used for overflow on the weekend.
