2025-08 · NASA ASRS report 2274299
A320 pilot reported receiving terrain alerts while conducting an approach that was not authorized for night operations.
Based on the ATIS into ZZZ we set up for the visual approach RWYXX backed up by the RNAVXX. RWYXY/XZ was closed. After receiving an ATIS update shortly before landing; the wind conditions changed from a crosswind to a three knots tailwind. RWYXX at ZZZ has an LDA of 6007 feet. With manual braking; the landing distance required was about five thousand feet. Not a lot of room to spare.We ended up requesting RWYXA; and we were cleared to expect the RNAVXA under visual conditions. We opted to land with a headwind and on a longer RWY as a safer option. Below 500 feet we received two GPWS caution terrain alerts while on the glide path. We decided to continue with the approach because no obstacles were visible. The PF reduced the rate of descent and adjusted the flight path accordingly.The touchdown was executed within the first 2000 feet; within the required distance. After debriefing the approach and analyzing the warnings we experienced; we found a note on the RNAVXA approach plate indicating that the procedure is not authorized at night. We missed that note because we were more focus on the tailwind and landing distance required while executing a visual approach.On the company pages we saw the note about potential GPWS terrain alerts on RWYXX but we weren't expecting any alerts on RWYXA. Adding the same note for RWYXA would be helpful.Also; even though it was our fault for missing that note prohibiting the RNAVXA approach during night operations; advertising it in a second place under company pages would be great.
More incidents for this aircraft family
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.