1993-06 · NASA ASRS report 244875
CFI FLUNKS DEAD RECKONING. PLT TECHNIQUE NAV LEAVES A BIT TO BE DESIRED. WRONG ARPT APCH LNDG.
I WAS FLYING EARLY IN THE MORNING ON JUN/MON/93 FROM TULSA RIVERSIDE TO FYV; AR. I WAS USING THE RAZORBACK VOR; ZME; AND HWY 412 TO DIRECT ME TO FYV. TO HELP ME WITH MY INITIAL NAV I SAID TO MYSELF 'JUST KEEP FLYING THE HWY; IT'LL TAKE YOU RIGHT THERE.' WHEN ACTUALLY I KNEW IT WOULD TAKE ME JUST N. I GOT BUSY LOOKING AT THE FLT GUIDE; TALKING TO MY BROTHER; AND EXPLAINING LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS WHEN CTR ALLOWED ME TO SWITCH FREQS; HE GAVE ME A '230 AND 2 MI' NOTICE BEFORE MY LEAVING HIM. FLYING INTO THE SUN IN HAZE; AND KNOWING I WAS TIRED (ALSO; I DO NOT CURRENTLY OWN A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES); I KNEW I NEEDED TO LOOK FOR THE ARPT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. COMING UP ON THE TOWN; NOW IT SHOULD BE JUST ON THE SE SIDE. I NEVER DID TURN THE AIRPLANE S OF WHAT I FLEW. I WAS APCHING SPRINGDALE AND TALKING TO FYV. THEY CLRED ME TO LAND RWY 16 #2. I SAID I DID NOT HAVE TFC BUT WOULD BE LOOKING. SO NOW MY MIND IS SET ON LOOKING FOR THIS ARPT NOW AND LOOKING FOR THE TFC NOW! ALL OF A SUDDEN; THE (SPRINGDALE) ARPT CAME IN SIGHT. I SWUNG AROUND AND ENTERED THE TFC PATTERN TO LAND. ON FINAL I SAW THE NUMBERS (18). IMMEDIATELY; I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG -- DID THEY JUST NOT REPAINT THE NUMBERS? -- DO I SEE A CTL TWR? BEING VIGILANT WITH FLYING THE AIRPLANE AND LOOKING FOR TFC; I CONCENTRATED ON LNDG. AFTER LNDG DRAKE TWR ASKED WHERE I WAS. I RESPONDED 'TXWY BRAVO; I THINK.' THEN OUR XMISSION CUT OUT. VERY VERY SOON I SAW MY MISTAKE AND TOOK OFF IMMEDIATELY AND RE-ESTABLISHED CONTACT WITH DRAKE TWR. THEY THEN INSTRUCTED ME TO FLY S. WELL; WHEN I LANDED AT SPRINGDALE; I KNEW WHERE TO GO SO I DIDN'T NEED THEIR NAVIGATIONAL ADVICE (BUT APPARENTLY; FLYING INTO THE SUN EARLIER; I DID). I APOLOGIZED PROFUSELY; AND THERE SEEMED TO BE NO PROB.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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