PLT OF AN SMA SINGLE ENG LAND ACFT LANDED ON A CLOSED RWY.

1993-07 · NASA ASRS report 247199

Date: 1993-07 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-other-unknown|other-unspecified

Synopsis

PLT OF AN SMA SINGLE ENG LAND ACFT LANDED ON A CLOSED RWY.

Narrative

AT XA27 MST ON JUL/FRI/93 I LANDED AN SMA ON RWY 22 AT E63 AT GILA BEND; AZ. AT XB46 I DEPARTED FROM THE SAME RWY. I SUBSEQUENTLY LEARNED THAT RWY 4-22 WAS CLOSED BY NOTAM. ON JUL/93 I HAD LANDED AT GILA BEND ON A PRACTICE IFR FLT TO TUS. PRIOR TO THAT FLT I HAD OBTAINED A WX BRIEFING AND NOTAMS VIA DUAT. THE FOLLOWING NOTAM RELATED TO GILA BEND: PRC 05/036 E63 THR RELCTD 500 SW TILL 08010100. DURING THE TOUCH AND GO LNDG; I NOTED THAT WORK WAS BEING DONE TO EXTEND RWY 22 TO THE NE. THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD WAS MARKED AND THE RWY WAS NOT CLOSED. THE RWY EXTENSION APPEARED TO BE GRADED DIRT. THE JUL/FRI/93 FLT TO GILA BEND AND RETURN WAS PLANNED TO GAIN XCOUNTRY TIME REQUIRED TO MEET EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS OF FAR 61.65; AND IN PREPARATION FOR AN INST RATING FLT TEST. GILA BEND IS MORE THAN 50 NM FROM THE POINT OF DEP. THE FLT WAS CONDUCTED IN VFR AND; SINCE I WAS 'HOODED;' I WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AN APPROPRIATELY RATED SAFETY PLT. NO FLT PLAN WAS FILED AND NO WX BRIEFING WAS OBTAINED AS THE WX WAS CLR AND EXPECTED TO REMAIN SO FOR DAYS. I HAD REMOVED THE HOOD PRIOR TO PASSING OVER THE ARPT TO CHK WIND AND RWY CONDITIONS. I NOTED THAT THE EXTENSION TO RWY 22 APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN PAVED SINCE MY LNDG ON JUL/93; AND THAT THERE WAS A YELLOW X ON THE DIRT SLIGHTLY TO THE NE OF THE START OF THE NEW RWY SURFACE. AS I WAS AWARE OF THE NOTAM REGARDING THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD; I ASSUMED THAT THE YELLOW X WAS TO WARN PLTS NOT TO LAND ON THE NEW RWY SURFACE. HAD THE RWY BEEN CLOSED; I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THE X TO HAVE BEEN ON THE ORIGINAL RWY SURFACE CLOSE TO THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD MARKER. AFTER AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG BEYOND THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD MARKING; I EXITED THE RWY AT MIDFIELD AND RETURNED; VIA THE TXWY; TO RWY 22. ON DEP FROM RWY 22; I NOTED A YELLOW X ON THE RWY SURFACE AT THE THRESHOLD OF RWY 4. I LATER BECAME CONCERNED THAT THE RWY MAY HAVE BEEN CLOSED AND ON JUL/93 I OBTAINED A DUAT BRIEFING FOR FLT TO GILA BEND. THE BRIEFING INCLUDED NOTAM 05/036 REFED ABOVE; AND A NEW NOTAM; PRC 07/020: PRC 07/020 E63 4-22 CLOSED TILL 250100. APPARENTLY; I HAD LANDED ON A RWY CLOSED BY NOTAM. HAD I NOT LANDED AT GILA BEND; THE FLT TIME WOULD NOT HAVE COUNTED AS XCOUNTRY TIME. THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT THIS INFLUENCED MY INTERPRETATION OF THE TEMPORARY RWY MARKINGS. IN MY OPINION; THE TEMPORARY MARKINGS DID NOT CORRECTLY DESIGNATE THE RWY AS BEING CLOSED. I HAVE RELEARNED THE WISDOM OF OBTAINING A BRIEFING; INCLUDING NOTAMS; FOR ALL FLTS.

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

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