Delta passenger plane mistakenly lands at US air force base

A Delta Airlines plane with 130 passengers on board mistakenly landed at the wrong airport in South Dakota on Thursday evening.

Delta Flight 2845 had departed from Minneapolis and was scheduled to land at an airport in Rapid City. Instead, the flight touched down at Ellsworth air force base at around 8.42pm.

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According to the Guardian, Ellsworth is around 10 miles due north of Rapid City regional airport, and the two airports have runways that are oriented nearly identically to the compass from north west to south east.

CBS News reports that passengers waited for around two hours on the plane while it was at the base. They were ordered to keep their window shades down as military personnel walked through the cabin.

The Air Force said in a statement that its base officials "followed the proper procedures to address the situation" ensuring everybody's safety.

The flight arrived at its intended destination at around 11.30pm.

In a statement, Delta said it had contacted the passengers involved "and offered a gesture of apology for the inconvenience".

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.