DURING THE PRE-DAWN HRS; A FATIGUED FLC; FLEW THE VISUAL APCH TO THE WRONG RWY. THE CTLR INTERVENED; AND ISSUED A CLRNC TO LAND; ON THAT RWY.

1995-03 · NASA ASRS report 299541

Date: 1995-03 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer · Phase: approach

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

Synopsis

DURING THE PRE-DAWN HRS; A FATIGUED FLC; FLEW THE VISUAL APCH TO THE WRONG RWY. THE CTLR INTERVENED; AND ISSUED A CLRNC TO LAND; ON THAT RWY.

Narrative

DURING THE ARR PHASE OF THE FLT FROM; HONOLULU TO DALLAS FORT WORTH; WE WERE INITIALLY RADAR VECTORED FOR LNDG ON RWY 36L. MY FO (PF); SUBSEQUENTLY BRIEFED THE APCH FOR RWY 36L; WHICH WOULD BE A VISUAL; AS THE WX WAS SKY CLR; AND VISIBILITY IN EXCESS OF 5 MI. WITHIN APPROX 10 MI OF THE ARPT; WE WERE GIVEN A RWY CHANGE; BY APCH CTL; TO RWY 35L. SINCE WE WERE BEING VECTORED FROM THE SW; THE ARPT AREA COULD BE SEEN; BUT IN THE XA00 DARKNESS; THE RWY LIGHTS WERE NOT YET VISIBLE. I PULLED OUT MY CHART FOR RWY 35L; AND GAVE THE CREW A QUICK BRIEF FOR RWY 35L; AND SET THE RADIOS FOR THE NEWLY ASSIGNED RWY. AT THIS POINT; MY FO WAS HAND-FLYING THE ACFT. ON THE SECOND QUERY FROM THE APCH CTLR; I SAW THE SEQUENCED FLASHERS AND THE LIGHTS (TURNED UP BRIGHT) ON THE L RWY; AND CALLED RWY IN SIGHT AFTER CONFIRMING; WITH MY FO. APCH THEN CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL RWY 35L; AND CHANGED US OVER TO TWR. INITIALLY TWR WAS TALKING TO ANOTHER ACFT; AND I UTILIZED THIS TIME TO COMPLETE THE APCH AND BEFORE LNDG CHKLISTS WITH THE SO. DURING THIS TIME A CLRNC TO LAND WAS RECEIVED FROM TWR FOR RWY 35L. AT APPROX 1500 FT AGL; TWR HAD JUST COMPLETED GIVING AN IFR CLRNC TO AN ACFT ON THE GND. I USED THIS BREAK IN TWR COM TO ASK THAT THE RWY LIGHTS BE DIMMED. THE TWR CAME BACK WITH 'YOU ARE LINED- UP ON THE WRONG RWY;' (CALL SIGN); CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 36L.' A QUICK LOOK BACK INSIDE; AT MY FLT INSTRUMENTS CONFIRMED THAT WE WERE INDEED OFF SCALE TO THE L OF THE LOC FOR RWY 35L. A QUICK RECONFIRMATION WITH THE TWR WAS MADE; AND WE DID. I HAD ALLOWED MYSELF TO GET SO BUSY DURING THAT 10 MI SEGMENT; WITH A RWY CHANGE (WHICH IS ALMOST A ROUTINE EXPERIENCE); RE-BRIEFING; APCH AND LNDG CHKLISTS; THAT I HAD MISSED AN IMPORTANT CALLOUT (LOC ALIVE); WHICH HAD NEVER OCCURRED; DUE TO MY BEING SUCKED IN BY THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF RWY 36L. IRONICALLY; EARLIER IN THE FLT I HAD COMMENTED TO MY SO; WHO IS ABOUT TO UPGRADE TO FO; THE IMPORTANCE OF USING THE INSTRUMENTS AS A BACKUP DURING VISUAL APCHS. THIS WAS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF WHY. IT IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE SYS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK. I KNOW BETTER THAN TO GET CAUGHT UP IN A SIT LIKE THIS; AND YET I AM AGAIN; REMINDED; AFTER THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FLT HRS.

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

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