SMA CONFUSED REF RWY ASSIGNMENT. MAKES APCH TO WRONG RWY. LCL CTLR CLRS FOR THAT RWY.

Date: 1992-02 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance

Synopsis

SMA CONFUSED REF RWY ASSIGNMENT. MAKES APCH TO WRONG RWY. LCL CTLR CLRS FOR THAT RWY.

Narrative

I WAS FLYING INTO DPA TO SCHEDULE AVIONICS WORK ON MY SMA. 12 MI OUT I CONTACTED TWR AND INFORMED THE CTLR OF MY INTENTIONS AND THAT I HAD ATIS INFO. I WAS GIVEN RWY 10 STRAIGHT IN; RPT OVER RIVER FOLLOWING ANOTHER SMA DOING SAME. I READ BACK AND WAS CORRECT. I DID NOT YET HAVE THE ARPT IN SIGHT BUT SPOTTED 2 OTHER SMA'S; ONE HEADED S; ONE N. I WAS NOW CONFUSED AS TO WHICH TO FOLLOW AND THEN WASN'T SURE IF RWY 10 WAS AT 100 DEGS OR 10 DEGS. IN MY CONFUSION; I CALLED TWR AND ASKED 'IS IDENT TO USE RWY 010?' I UNDERSTOOD CTLR TO SAY 'AFFIRMATIVE; RWY 10.' AT THIS POINT I HEADED FOR THE RWY WITH A HDG OF 010 (RWY 1). I ANNOUNCED OVER THE RIVER AS REQUESTED AND WAS CLRED TO LAND FOLLOWING SMA OVER THRESHOLD. I STATED THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE TFC AND WAS ON 1/2 MI FINAL WITH LNDG LIGHTS ON. AT THIS POINT THE CTLR SAW ME ON APCH TO 1 AND CLRED ME TO LAND ON 1. I LANDED UNEVENTFULLY AND TAXIED WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO MY DEST. WHEN THERE; I WAS ASKED TO CALL THE TWR; WHICH I DID AND RECEIVED VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS TO MY MISTAKE. I FLY OUT OF A SINGLE RWY GRASS ARPT AND DURING WINTER MONTHS KEEP CURRENT ON LCL FLTS AND DO A MIN OF CTLED ARPT WORK. THE CONFUSION OF SO MANY AIRPLANES AND DIFFICULTY IN LOCATING THE ARPT LED ME TO A POINT WHERE I SHOULD HAVE DONE A 180 DEG TURN; REGROUPED; AND COME BACK INTO THE ATA WITH A CLR HEAD AND STARTED FROM SCRATCH. THE TWR WAS DOING THE BEST HE COULD WITH LIMITED STAFF. I MADE THE MISTAKE. I WILL NOW BE REMINDED THAT THE '0' IS KNOCKED OFF THE END OF THE RWY HDG; NOT THE BEGINNING!

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.