RUNWAY ERROR SPARKS CLOSE CALL.

Two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets preparing for a landing at a Florida airport Tuesday were warned off by air traffic controllers, as the airport closed seven years ago and is now a housing development without a usable runway.

The Royal Canadian Air Force jets, from Cold Lake, Alta., were in Florida for a training exercise and were scheduled to land at Tyndall Air Force Base, near Panama City, Fla. Because of a minor in- field emergency at Tyndall, the CF-18s were diverted to Northwest Beaches International, in the same area.

The jets began their ap- proach to what they believed was Northwest Beaches but was in fact SweetBay, an airport that closed in 2010. SweetBay is now the location of a new housing development, and while a runway still exists on the site, it is no longer functioning.

Locals watched as the fighter jets came in with their wheels down before they aborted their landing.

“They spotted I guess it’s SweetBay Airport which is now closed and thought it was International,” Capt. Matthew Strong with 4 Wing Cold Lake, explained to My Panhandle, a news outlet that covers the Florida Panhandle region. “They called the tower and asked for confirmation. When they were doing their approach, the tower informed them, ‘No, you’re actually at a closed airport.’ ”

Strong noted that the pilots were unfamiliar with the region and that Northwest Beaches International is only about 10 nautical miles away from the closed airport. Both CF-18s later landed at Northwest Beaches International.

Two Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18s on a training exercise in Florida were wheels down when they were told they were landing at an abandoned airfield.