PART 135 OPERATOR STARTED INST APCH PROC WHEN THE WX WAS RPTED BELOW AUTHORIZED IFR LNDG MINS.

Date: 1992-02 · Aircraft: Small Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turboprop Eng · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-unspecified

Synopsis

PART 135 OPERATOR STARTED INST APCH PROC WHEN THE WX WAS RPTED BELOW AUTHORIZED IFR LNDG MINS.

Narrative

WX RPTED AS 1/16 MI; SKY OBSCURED. EXCEPT FOR ARPT AREA; WX WAS CLR. APPARENTLY; A RWY MAINT VEHICLE WAS ON RWY DURING SECOND LOW APCH; AND THE DRIVER WAS NOT AWARE OF APCHING ACFT. BASED ON PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AT THIS ARPT; I BELIEVED THAT THE OFFICIAL WX RPT LAGGED THE CHANGING WX SITUATION; AND WAS NOT ACCURATE ALTHOUGH APCH CTL WAS INFORMED THAT A LOW APCH ONLY WAS REQUESTED. THEY ISSUED AN IFR APCH CLRNC; BUT DID NOT EXPLAIN WHY A CLRNC FOR A LOW APCH WAS NOT; OR COULD NOT; BE GIVEN. NEITHER APCH NOR TWR GAVE ME ANY WX INFO; SUCH AS A PIREP; TO HELP DETERMINE THE LIKELIHOOD OF THE FOG DISSIPATING QUICKLY; NOR FRANKLY DID THEY SEEM VERY INTERESTED IN THAT INFO. VISIBILITY OBSERVATIONS ARE APPARENTLY ONLY TAKEN FROM A SINGLE POINT; AND ARE OF LIMITED VALUE WHEN THE OBSCURATION DOES NOT COVER THE ENTIRE LNDG AREA. UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS; CTLRS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE PLT'S NEED TO VIEW THE LNDG AREA IN ORDER TO MAKE A REASONABLE DECISION CONCERNING WAITING FOR IMPROVEMENT OR PROCEEDING TO AN ALTERNATE. SOME PROVISION SHOULD BE MADE TO ALLOW WX OBSERVATIONS TO BE UPDATED MORE QUICKLY DURING RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS; INCLUDING WHEN THE CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING. SOMETIMES 5 OR 10 MINS CAN MAKE A CRITICAL DIFFERENCE.

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