ACR AT UNCTLED ARPT ABORTS TKOF DUE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TFC ON PRACTICE INST APCH.
Synopsis
ACR AT UNCTLED ARPT ABORTS TKOF DUE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TFC ON PRACTICE INST APCH.
Narrative
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
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.