ACR X ENTERED IMC WHILE EXECUTING A VISUAL APCH TO SFO. PLTDEV.
Synopsis
ACR X ENTERED IMC WHILE EXECUTING A VISUAL APCH TO SFO. PLTDEV.
Narrative
I WAS CAPT OF ACR X. AS IS NORMAL UNDER VISUAL CONDITIONS WE WERE INITIALLY CLRED TO CROSS SFO VOR AT 11000; 250 KTS AND SHORTLY BEFORE ARRIVING THERE WE WERE GIVEN A VECTOR TO 100 DEGS AND CLRED TO 6000 FT. THE WX CONDITIONS WERE APPROX 15 SCATTERED 20 BROKEN 20 VISIBILITY. NEARING THE VOR AT 11000 FT I COULD SEE THE ARPT CLRLY; BUT CLOUDS OBSCURED MOST OF THE WESTERN HALF OF THE SAN MATEO BRIDGE AND THE FOSTER CITY AREA. DURING THE DSCNT TO 6000 FT WE WERE GIVEN A FREQ CHANGE AND I INSTRUCTED THE FO TO ASK THE NEW CTLR 'HOW FAR OUT ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE US?' HIS RESPONSE INDICATED THAT WE WERE #1 FOR 28L AND THAT THE POS OF OUR BASE LEG WAS OUR OPTION. THE FO; WHO IS NEARLY AS NEW IN HIS SEAT AS I AM IN MINE; XMITTED THAT WE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT; WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE ACFT'S CONFIGN OF POS; OR THE POS OF THE CLOUDS IN RELATION TO THE ARPT AND BEFORE WE COULD DISCUSS THESE THINGS; WE WERE CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO 28L. AT THIS POINT WE WERE ABOUT 7000 FT; GEAR DOWN; FLAPS 5 DEGS; SPD BRAKES UP; 200 KTS AND I COULD SEE THE EASTERN HALF OF THE SAN MATEO BRIDGE AND TURNED BASE. AS WE CONTINUED TO DSND STEEPLY; OUR SIGHT ANGLE TO THE RWY EVENTUALLY WAS OBSCURED BY CLOUDS; AND VISUAL CONTACT WAS LOST. I COULD SEE COYOTE POINT; THE YACHT BASIN AND THE BAY THROUGH THE BROKEN CLOUDS BELOW US AND IN RETROSPECT WISH I'D HAVE MADE A MISSED APCH AT THIS POINT. BUT I TURNED PARALLEL TO THE FINAL APCH COURSE ABOUT 1/4 MI E OF IT IN ORDER TO DSND THROUGH A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS. WE REACQUIRED THE ARPT AT ABOUT 1000 FT; MADE A L TURN TO ALIGN WITH THE 28L EXTENDED CTRLINE; THEN LANDED NORMALLY. THIS SITUATION HAPPENED BECAUSE I ALLOWED AN OVERLY AGGRESSIVE FO TO PUSH ME INTO ATTEMPTING/CONTINUING A VISUAL APCH FOR WHICH THE ACFT WAS NOT PROPERLY POSITIONED AND CONFIGURED (TOO HIGH; TOO FAST; TOO CLOSE) AND IN ATTEMPTING TO CONFRONT THESE PROBLEMS AND THEIR INHERENT HIGH WORKLOAD COMPLETELY FORGOT THE REQUIREMENT TO KEEP THE RWY IN SIGHT; AND THE OPTION OF EXECUTING A MISSED APCH. I AM SATISFIED THAT WE BOTH UNDERSTAND HOW CLOUDS IN THE VICINITY OF THE BRIDGE COMPLICATE AND COMPROMISE THE ABILITY TO LEGALLY EXECUTE THE 'SLAM DUNK' APCH; AND AM CONVINCED THAT OUR EXTENSIVE DEBRIEF WILL ALLOW US TO RECOGNIZE THIS PROBLEM IN THE FUTURE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.