SMA PLT LANDS ON TXWY AT NIGHT.

Date: 1993-09 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Retractable Gear

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-runway-or-taxiway-excursion|other-unspecified

Synopsis

SMA PLT LANDS ON TXWY AT NIGHT.

Narrative

I AM AN INST RATED PVT PLT WORKING ON MY COMMERCIAL LICENSE. I HAVE JUST RECENTLY BEEN SIGNED OFF IN A COMPLEX AIRPLANE; THE SMA; AND HAVE LOGGED APPROX 30 HRS DUAL IN THAT AIRPLANE. AFTER A LONG DAY'S WORK; I DECIDED TO TAKE THE SMA OUT TO THE LCL PRACTICE AREA TO FINE TUNE MY LAZY-8'S; CHANDELLES; STEEP DSNDING SPIRALS; AND MY PRECISION LNDGS. BY THE TIME WE WERE READY TO TAXI; THE SUN WAS BEGINNING TO SET. I REALIZED THAT IT MIGHT BE DARK WHEN WE HEAD BACK. BY THE TIME I GOT OUT TO THE PRACTICE AREA IT WAS ALREADY STARTING TO GET DARK. AFTER A FEW CHANDELLES; FOLLOWED BY LAZY-8'S AND A STEEP SPIRAL; I CALLED THE APCH CTL AGENCY AND OBTAINED A CLRNC TO RETURN TO SNA ARPT. WHEN APCH CTL HANDED ME TO TWR; THE TWR CTLR ASKED ME TO RPT DOWNWIND FOR RWY 19R. SO I ENTERED AT A 45 DEG ANGLE AND MADE A CALL TO TWR TO RPT IN ON DOWNWIND. THE CTLR CAME BACK TO ME AND HE SAID TO EXTEND DOWNWIND AND HE'LL CALL MY BASE TURN. I ACKNOWLEDGED AND CONTINUED ON THE DOWNWIND LEG. I FLEW A LITTLE HIGH BECAUSE I WAS WAITING FOR TWR TO CALL MY BASE TURN. AFTER AN EXTENDED DOWNWIND; TWR CAME BACK TO ME AND SAID: 'TURN BASE NOW AND CLR TO LAND ON RWY 19L; REPEAT RWY 19L.' I REPLIED; 'CLRED TO LAND RWY 19L.' I FULLY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE CTLR WANTED ME TO SWITCH FROM RWY 19R TO RWY 19L. AFTER I TURNED FINAL; I REALIZED THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG BECAUSE THE SIGHT PICTURE LOOKED DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I HAD ANTICIPATED. AT THE TIME I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT EXACTLY WAS WRONG WITH THE SIGHT PICTURE AND I CONTINUED ON THE FINAL DSCNT. I SAW THE WHITE VASI ON THE R FOR WHAT I THOUGHT WAS FOR THE R RWY; BUT I COULDN'T LOCATE THE RWY LIGHTS FOR THE L. I DECIDED THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG AND DECIDED TO DO A GAR. I THEN NOTIFIED TWR OF THE GAR AND RETRACTED MY GEAR FOLLOWED BY REDUCING FLAPS TO '0' DEGS. I FLEW THE L PATTERN FOR THE RWY 19L AND MADE A CALL TO TWR INDICATING THAT I'M ON L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 19L. TWR ACKNOWLEDGED AND CLRED ME FOR LNDG. I FLEW A WIDER PATTERN DUE TO THE HIGHER AIRSPD OF THE SMA AND MADE MY BASE TURN. AS I TURN FROM BASE TO FINAL; AGAIN I REALIZED THAT SOMETHING LOOKED DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE WHITE VASI WAS CLRLY VISIBLE AND YET I STILL COULDN'T LOCATE THE WHITE RWY LIGHTS FOR THE L RWY. IT DIDN'T OCCUR TO ME THAT THE WHITE VASI ON THE R IS ACTUALLY FOR THE L RWY AND NOT THE R. I BECAME CONFUSED AND A LITTLE HESITANT TO DO ANOTHER GAR. WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE L RWY WAS ACTUALLY THE TXWY. I SAW THE BLUE LIGHTS BUT IN MY MIND I THOUGHT FOR SURE THAT THE WHITE VASI WAS FOR THE R RWY AND NOT THE L. ALL THROUGH THE FINAL APCH SEGMENT THE TXWY (I THOUGHT RWY) WAS CLR AND NO OTHER ACFT WAS ON THE GND. WHEN I REALIZED THAT I WAS ABOUT TO LAND ON THE TXWY I THOUGHT I WAS COMMITTED AND IT WOULD BE TOO RISKY TO DO A GAR SO LOW TO THE GND. I KNEW THAT THE TXWY WAS CLR AND SO I LANDED ON THE TXWY. I MADE THE CALL TO THE TWR AND APOLOGIZED FOR MY MISTAKE. THEY GAVE ME A PHONE NUMBER TO CALL AND I COMPLIED. I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY MISTAKE. I WAS VERY FORTUNATE THAT NOBODY GOT HURT. I SHOULD HAVE USED THE SAME JUDGEMENT AS THE FIRST APCH AND DID A GAR AND COME BACK FOR ANOTHER TRY. THERE WERE SO MANY CLUES THAT TOLD ME THAT I WAS LINED UP WITH THE TXWY AND I JUST DIDN'T REALIZE SOON ENOUGH TO AVOID THIS HAZARDOUS INCIDENT. I LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE TO DO AS MANY GARS AS NECESSARY UNTIL I'M SURE THAT A SAFE LNDG CAN BE MADE.

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