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 approach 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.

MIRCEA ROSCA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES FILES 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.