CRAIG, Colo. -- Aviation officials were investigating why a TWA jet carrying 122 people made an unscheduled landing 17 miles from its destination Wednesday.

Flight 641 from St. Louis landed safely in a snow shower at about 1:45 p.m. at the Craig-Moffat Airport west of Hayden, Colo., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike O'Connor said.

The flight crew did not report any problems before landing.

The Boeing MD-80 got stuck in mud as it taxied to the terminal because the runway was designed for smaller planes. The Yampa Valley Airport, which serves the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs, was its intended destination.

"(The pilot) may have misidentified the airport he was landing at," O'Connor said.

TWA spokeswoman Chris Kelly said the pilot had not yet been interviewed and the airline did not know why the unscheduled landing was made. She did not immediately know whether the pilot had flown into Hayden before.

The airline paid for rental cars for passengers or bused them to Steamboat Springs, Kelly said.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Mar/15/NOTE3.htm

-- Doris (nocents@bellsouth.net), March 15, 2001