SMA ON IFR FLT PLAN INTO NON TWR ARPT HAS ALTDEV AND CAUSES OTHER ACFT TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION DUE WRONG RWY LNDG.

Date: 1993-09 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear

Anomalies: conflict-airborne-conflict|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-other-unknown|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance

Synopsis

SMA ON IFR FLT PLAN INTO NON TWR ARPT HAS ALTDEV AND CAUSES OTHER ACFT TO TAKE EVASIVE ACTION DUE WRONG RWY LNDG.

Narrative

APCHING SALISBURY; MD; I WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN ON V29 APCHING FROM THE N; TALKING ON 128.0. I WAS LESS THAN 25 MI FROM SBY; WHEN I SAW A DARK AREA IN FRONT OF MY PATH. I ASKED THE CTLR ABOUT IT; AND SHE REPLIED THAT IT WAS 2 CELLS OF LEVEL 1 PRECIPITATION; AND MY COURSE WOULD TAKE ME BTWN THEM. I ENCOUNTERED LIGHT RAIN AND LIGHT TO MODERATE CHOP IN THEM WHICH MAY HAVE DRAWN SOME OF MY ATTN AWAY FROM THE CHARTS FOR A WHILE. AFTER THE CLOUDS; I WAS INSTRUCTED TO DSND TO 3000 FT FOR APCH INTO SALISBURY. AT 3000 FT; I WAS IN A BROKEN LAYER OF CLOUDS; AND COULD SEE THE GND ON AND OFF. SHE TOLD ME I WAS 2ND FOR THE APCH. I HAD A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS IN FRONT OF ME; AND TOLD HER I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. SHE SAID 'STAY IN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE ARPT;' I WAS APCHING A CLOUD (THE BOTTOMS WERE AROUND 2500 FT) WHICH WOULD PREVENT ME FROM STAYING IN VISUAL CONTACT; SO I STARTED TO DSND BELOW THE CLOUDS AND CALLED TO TELL HER I WAS DSNDING. SHE TOLD ME TO GO BACK TO 3000 FT; AND I DID A MAX PWR CLB BACK TO 3000 FT. BEFORE SHE COULD TELL ME; I DSNDED DOWN TO AROUND 2500 FT. I HEARD; OR WAS TOLD; THAT THE APCH WAS TO BE A VISUAL ONE; SO I THOUGHT THE COMMAND TO STAY IN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE ARPT WAS A GO AHEAD TO DSND. I WILL ASK FIRST FROM NOW ON; BEFORE I ASSUME I CAN DSND. A MISUNDERSTOOD ACTIVE RWY AND THE REASON FOR A FREQ GIVEN ME WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CUTTING OFF 2 ACFT FROM LNDG. WHEN I WAS TOLD TO DSND FOR THE LNDG; SHE GAVE ME A FREQ (122.95); WHICH I TOOK AS A TWR FREQ; AND TOLD ME THE ACTIVE WAS RWY 23; WHICH I MISUNDERSTOOD AS RWY 32. I PULLED THE APCH PLATE EARLIER; FOR ILS RWY 32 IN CASE I HAD TO DO AN INST APCH. THE ARPT DIAGRAM ON IT WAS USED AS A RWY REF FOR MY VISUAL APCH. I REFERRED TO THE VFR SECTIONAL AND NOTED THAT THERE WAS NO TWR; SO I FLEW A VFR APCH AND EXECUTED A L XWIND; A L DOWNWIND; WHERE I NOTICED AN ACFT ON MY R SIDE HDG TOWARD THE ARPT; XING IN BACK OF ME. AND THEN A L BASE; AND FINAL. I WAS ANNOUNCING MY POS BEFORE EACH TURN; ON THE FREQ SHE GAVE ME; BUT HEARD NO ONE ELSE. I LOOKED ON THE APCH PLATE FOR A FREQ; BUT COULD NOT FIND ONE. AS I LOOK AT IT NOW; THE DIM LIGHT; AND THE WATER AND LAND DEPICTION ON THE PLATE OBSCURED THESE FREQS. I LOOKED ON THE VFR SECTIONAL; AND FOUND 122.95 AND USED IT; AND NOW I CAN SEE IT IS FOR LIGHT ACTIVATION ONLY. THE SECOND PLANE EXECUTED A GAR ON FINAL; BECAUSE I WAS ON RWY 23 AND IT WAS ON FINAL TO RWY 32; WHICH INTERSECTS RWY 23. I HAD BOTH PLANES IN SIGHT; AND DID NOT REQUIRE ANY EVASIVE MANEUVERS. THE FOLLOWING WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: THE MISUNDERSTOOD ACTIVE RWY. THE SHORT DISTANCE I WAS LET DOWN FROM THE ARPT. I ASSUMED THE CTLRS USUALLY GIVE A TWR OR UNICOM FREQ AND NOT APCH CTL FREQ WHEN A VISUAL APCH IS EXPECTED. THE DEPICTION ON THE SECTIONAL WITH THE LIGHT FREQ AND THE CTAF SECOND HAD NEVER BEEN ENCOUNTERED BEFORE AND IS CONFUSING. I HAD NEVER ENCOUNTERED AN FSS ADVISORY ARPT BEFORE EITHER. A BETTER LOOK AT THE ARPT DIAGRAMS/CHARTS EARLIER ON WOULD HAVE HELPED ME UNDERSTAND THE APCH MORE. I ALWAYS KEEP TRACK OF MY POS SO AS NOT TO BE SURPRISED WITH WHAT IS TO HAPPEN NEXT; BUT THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE RAIN AND TURB TOOK VALUABLE TIME AWAY FROM ME AND I RELIED ON THE CTLR TO SET ME UP AND EXPLAIN WHAT TO DO NEXT. I WILL REMEMBER THAT THE 2 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN FLYING IFR IS THE NEXT 2 THINGS; AND WILL KEEP EVEN FARTHER AHEAD OF THE PLANE IN CASE SOMETHING UNEXPECTED OCCURS; LIKE THE TURB; OR A MISUNDERSTOOD COMMAND OR TWO. ALSO; A REQUEST FOR A CLARIFICATION OF A COMMAND COULD HAVE HELPED.

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