FLC OF MLG HEADED TOWARD WRONG ARPT WHEN FOLLOWING ASSIGNED TFC THAT WAS GOING TO ANOTHER ARPT.

Date: 1994-09 · Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-unspecified

Synopsis

FLC OF MLG HEADED TOWARD WRONG ARPT WHEN FOLLOWING ASSIGNED TFC THAT WAS GOING TO ANOTHER ARPT.

Narrative

ON APCH TO BURBANK '4 STACKS VISUAL' TO RWY 15 THE APCH CTLR REQUESTED WE SQUARE OUT OUR APCH FOR TFC -- THE FO WAS FLYING AND DID SQUARE IT OUT WHICH PUT US BEHIND ANOTHER ACFT ON AN APPROX PATH SIMILAR TO OUR APCH. THE CTLR CALLED A CHEROKEE TFC AT 2-3 O'CLOCK AND WE HAD A TCASII TARGET CLOSING IN AT 10 O'CLOCK AND WE WERE TRYING TO VISUALLY ACQUIRE THESE TARGETS AS WELL AS GENERAL TFC. THE CTLR THANKED US FOR SQUARING OUR BASE AND TOLD US TO CONTACT TWR. I MADE 3 CALLS TO TWR AND WAS CHKING TO BE SURE I HAD THE CORRECT FREQ. THE FO WAS STAYING ABOVE 3000 FT UNTIL ON FINAL. WE REALIZED WE WERE LINED UP AT VAN NUYS WHEN WE SAW BURBANK AT THE SAME TIME THAT TWR CALLED. WE GOT CAUGHT IN THE TRAP OF VFR TFC IDENT AND FOLLOWING THE TFC AHEAD TO THE WRONG ARPT. DUE TO VISUAL CONDITIONS AND LOOKING OUTSIDE; WE NEGLECTED TO FULLY UTILIZE THE INFO AVAILABLE THROUGH THE FMC; WHICH OBVIOUSLY WOULD HAVE SHOWN US WE WERE NOT LINED UP WITH BURBANK. OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: TWR WOULD NOT RESPOND WHICH REQUIRED ATTN AND TRYING TO VERIFY FREQS. PLT FATIGUE -- 4-DAY TRIP WITH APPROX 4 HR BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF EACH AND SHORT NIGHTLY LAYOVERS; EARLY GET UPS; E COAST TO W. IT DID NOT ALLOW FOR ENOUGH SLEEP AND EXERCISE.

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