A mammoth cargo plane that landed Wednesday night at the wrong airport in Wichita , Kansas -- one that typically does not accommodate such beasts -- took off without incident Thursday afternoon on a runway half a mile shorter than it usually uses . The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter 's massive engines roared as it lumbered down the pavement , then lifted off and disappeared into the overcast sky . A few minutes later , it landed without incident at the airport 12 miles across town where it was originally supposed to land -- McConnell Air Force Base . An investigation has begun into what caused the pilot to land at the wrong airport , said Bonnie Rodney , a spokeswoman for Atlas Air , which operates the Boeing-owned jet . It was laden with cargo intended for Boeing , she said . Boeing said the cargo was a B-787 fuselage . Elaborate precautions had been taken to ensure no one got hurt in the take-off attempt . Police closed nearby roads and urged area residents to stay away from the airport . `` Onlookers and gawkers have caused accidents , '' said Roger Xanders , chief of airport police and fire . The takeoff came less than a day after the plane , which was bound for McConnell from New York 's John F. Kennedy International Airport , missed its mark . Instead of landing , as had been planned , at the military airport on Wichita 's southeast side , it landed at the much smaller , general aviation Col. James Jabara Airport on the northeast side . Jabara has no control tower and normally does n't handle jumbo jets . The Atlas Air 747 Dreamlifter is a modified 747-400 passenger airplane that can haul more cargo by volume than any airplane in the world . When fully loaded , the Dreamlifter needs a runway 9,199 feet long to take off , reports affiliate KWCH . The Jabara runway is 6,101 feet . But a spokeswoman for the airport authority , Valerie Wise , cited favorable weather Thursday and the fact that much of the fuel had been used in the flight from JFK -- which lightened the weight of the plane -- for the conclusion that it was safe to take off on the shorter runway . `` The engineers have been running calculations all night , '' she said . Photos : Boeing through the ages .
The plane landed safely at FAA . `` Gawkers have caused accidents , '' one official says . McConnell Air Force Base has no control tower and a much shorter runway . The McConell Air Force Base is investigating the incident .