1994-06 · NASA ASRS report 274553
WRONG ARPT APCH DURING VISUAL APCH IN HAZY CONDITIONS. VISIBILITY REDUCED.
CAPT AND I WERE ON A TRIP TO AID (ANDERSON; IND). WE WERE BEING RADAR VECTORED BY ZID. INITIALLY; THE VECTORS WERE NUMEROUS FOR TFC AVOIDANCE. WE CALLED AID IN SIGHT. ZID ACKNOWLEDGED AND KEPT US ON VECTORS FOR TFC. WE WERE SOON GIVEN A FINAL HDG AND CLRED FOR THE VISUAL AND TOLD TO CONTACT TWR (AID). THE FINAL VECTOR APPEARED TO ALIGN US WITHIN 30 DEGS OF RWY 30 AT AID; THEN WE CONTACTED AID TWR AND WERE CLRED TO LAND. IN REALITY WE HAD MISTAKEN MUNCIE ARPT (MIE) FOR AID AND WERE DSNDING IN ON APCH. ON APPROX A 1/4 MI FINAL; THE CAPT AND I RECOGNIZED THAT THE ARPT RWY ENVIRONMENT WAS INCORRECT FOR AID (IE; RWY 32 VERSUS 30). UPON THIS DISCOVERY; WE EXECUTED A GAR. AID TWR THEN CONTACTED US ON THE START OF CLBOUT FROM MIE THAT MIE TWR HAD US IN THEIR AREA. WE THEN CONTACTED ZID AND REQUESTED RADAR VECTORS TO AID. ENRTE TO AID THE CAPT CONTACTED MIE TWR TO INQUIRE FOR SAFETY REASONS AND WAS TOLD THAT EVERYTHING WAS OK. WE CONTINUED AND MADE A NORMAL LNDG AT AID. SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS EVENT. THIS CREW WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH EITHER ARPT AND VISIBILITY WAS LIMITING (ALTHOUGH VFR) WITH HAZE. THE PROX AND SIMILAR LAYOUT OF AID AND MIE FURTHER ADDED TO CONFUSION. THE FINAL VECTOR GIVEN BY ZID APPEARED TO LINE US UP WITH RAMP 30. CLRNC TO LAND BY AID TWR UPON INITIAL CONTACT ALSO WAS IMPORTANT. AREAS SUCH AS THESE SHOULD BE DOUBLE VERIFIED BY APCH CTL (CTR) AND PLTS IN HAZE CONDITIONS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 274696: THE FO AND I DECIDED THE NAVIGATIONAL AND VISUAL CUES DID NOT MATCH THAT OF AID. AID TWR HAD CLRED US TO LAND RWY 30 JUST BEFORE WE ABANDONED THE APCH. WE ASSUMED AID TWR HAD US IN SIGHT WHEN WE WERE CLRED TO LAND. CONTINUED ACCEPTANCE OF THE VISUAL AFTER VECTORS FOR TFC WAS MY ERROR. SHOULD HAVE CONFIRMED THE ARPT LOCATION WITH ZID.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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