WRONG ARPT LNDG. UNAUTH LNDG. AERO CHART PRESENTATION NOAA CITED AS CONTRIBUTORY.

1994-06 · NASA ASRS report 273534

Date: 1994-06 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit

Synopsis

WRONG ARPT LNDG. UNAUTH LNDG. AERO CHART PRESENTATION NOAA CITED AS CONTRIBUTORY.

Narrative

WE WERE ENRTE ON THE FIRST LEG OF A 3-LEG TRIP FROM COASTAL MAINE TO THE WASHINGTON; DC; AREA. FIRST STOP WAS TO BE AT FITCHBURG; MA; FOR FUEL -- AN ARPT UNFAMILIAR TO ANY OF US ON BOARD THE AIRPLANE. ALL LEGS WERE FLT PLANNED FOR IFR; WX WAS CAVU. THE RTE INCLUDED KENNEBUNKPORT; ME (ENE VORTAC); V106 CINKY DIRECT FITCHBURG ARPT (FIT). APCHING MANCHESTER; NH (MHT VORTAC) ON V106; IFR AT 4000 FT; BOS APCH CTL (124.4) BROKE US OFF THE AIRWAY WITH A SERIES OF VECTORS IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF FIT. THE CTLR APPEARED TO BE OVERLOADED; WORKING MORE THAN 1 SECTOR AT THE TIME. HE MADE VARIOUS REFS TO PARACHUTE JUMPERS IN OUR AREA. ATC ADVISED US FIT ARPT WAS IN OUR 10 O'CLOCK POS; 6 MI; AND ASKED IF WE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. I REPLIED THAT WE HAD '...AN ARPT IN OUR 10 O'CLOCK. IS THAT FITCHBURG?' ATC REPLIED 'AFFIRMATIVE;' AND WE CANCELED IFR IN ORDER TO CONTACT FITCHBURG CTAF. ATC ADVISED 'CAUTION JUMPERS IN THE AREA; SQUAWK VFR' ETC. OUR CALL TO CTAF ON 122.7 BROUGHT A RESPONSE FROM FITCHBURG UNICOM; ADVISING RWY 32 WAS IN USE; WITH L TFC. I RPTED ENTERING A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 32 (CLRLY MARKED); TURNING L BASE; AND TURNING ONTO FINAL. 6 PARACHUTE JUMPERS WERE 'AWAY' AND CLRLY VISIBLE JUST W OF THE ARPT -- PRETTY CLOSE; WE THOUGHT. WE LANDED AND TURNED OFF AT THE MAIN RAMP. THE SIGN AT THE MAIN TERMINAL BUILDING READ 'WELCOME TO FORT DEVENS -- MOORE ARMY AIRFIELD.' WITHIN MINS A HELI LANDED AND AN ARMY JUMP MASTER RAN TO OUR AIRPLANE. 'DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?' HE ASKED. OF COURSE WE KNEW AT THAT POINT. I DESCRIBED THE SVC JUST RECEIVED FROM BOS APCH CTL AS 'A PERFECT SETUP;' AND VOLUNTEERED TO GET OUT OF THERE ASAP. THE JUMP MASTER SAID; 'THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME HERE. WE JUST ASK THAT YOU TALK TO US ON OUR FREQ.' WHAT IS YOUR FREQ?' I ASKED. '119.35.' WE CALLED 119.35 IN THE BLIND - - MOORE TWR IS NO LONGER MANNED; NO REPLY FROM THE HELI. WE DEPARTED WITHOUT INCIDENT. (ON ARRIVING AT FIT THE UNICOM OPERATOR GRINNED AND ASKED 'SO HOW WAS MOORE FIELD?') CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1) I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH FITCHBURG ARPT. 2) I TRUSTED TOO MUCH IN RADAR VECTOR SVC TO THE RIGHT ARPT. 3) FITCHBURG AND MOORE ARE CLOSE TOGETHER -- 6 OR 7 MI APART. 4) MOORE AAF IS NOT SHOWN ON THE CURRENT INST APCH PLATES FOR FIT PUBLISHED BY NOAA; EVEN THOUGH IT IS WELL WITHIN THE 10 NM CIRCLE DRAWN AROUND FIT; AND EVEN THOUGH IT IS A KNOWN 'SUCKER-HOLE' FOR PLTS INTENDING TO LAND AT FIT. 5) FITCHBURG AND MOORE ARE SIMILAR IN APPEARANCE. BOTH HAVE A RWY 14/32 AS THEIR PRINCIPAL RWY; AND THOSE RWYS ARE NEARLY IDENTICAL IN APPEARANCE (FIT 4500 FT; MOORE 4700 FT). 6) THE BOS APCH CTLR WAS APPARENTLY OVERLOADED AND WAS IN A BIG HURRY TO TURN US LOOSE TO VFR OPS. 7) IN HIS HASTE THE CTLR IGNORED THE POSSIBILITY OF OUR MISTAKING THE NEARER ARPT (MOORE) FOR THE DESIRED; MORE DISTANCE ARPT (FIT). 8) A CTLR CAN'T ALWAYS ESTIMATE CORRECTLY THE PLT'S CLOCK POS IN CALLING OUT AN ARPT'S LOCATION TO THE PLT. 9) READING DISTANCES FROM A RADAR DISPLAY IS SIMPLE FOR THE CTLR; BUT SEEING THE CORRECT ARPT (OR AIRPLANE) CALLED OUT AT A GIVEN RANGE BY THE CTLR IS PARTLY GUESSWORK FOR THE PLT. 10) HVY TFC OF ALL KINDS; INCLUDING PARACHUTE JUMPERS; WAS PROBABLY ENCOURAGED BY THE BEAUTIFUL WKEND WX. RECOMMENDED CURES: 1) DON'T ALLOW CTLRS TO GET OVERLOADED. 2) REMIND CTLRS TO ADVISE THE PLT OF KNOWN 'SUCKER-HOLES' LIKE MOORE (FOR FITCHBURG) EVEN IN EXCELLENT VISIBILITY. 3) ENCOURAGE PLTS NOT TO BE TOO ACCOMMODATING TO THE CTLR; ESPECIALLY WHEN CHOOSING TO MAKE A VFR APCH INTO AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT. 4) SHOW MOORE ON THE FITCHBURG INST APCH PLATES. 5) INSTALL AWOS AT FITCHBURG; TO INCLUDE AN ADVISORY THAT MOORE FIELD IS NEARBY AND CAN BE MISTAKEN FOR FIT.

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

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