FLC LINES UP WITH APCH TO WRONG ARPT.
Synopsis
FLC LINES UP WITH APCH TO WRONG ARPT.
Narrative
APCHING THE MIA VOR FROM THE NW; APCH CTL GAVE US A 120 DEG HDG FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 9L AT MIA. AT 3000 FT MSL; THE ILS WAS NOT RECEIVING WELL AND WE MISTAKENLY CALLED ARPT IN SIGHT WHEN WHAT WE WERE ACTUALLY SEEING WAS OPA LOCKA ARPT WHICH HAS A SIMILAR RWY LAYOUT AND WAS BTWN US AND MIA. WE CALLED MIA TWR ABOUT 6 MI OUT AND HE ASKED OUR POS; SAID WE WERE IN SIGHT AND CLRED US TO LAND. AS WE NEARED THE OPA LOCKA ARPT NEITHER OF US FELT COMFORTABLE WITH THE SIT AND TALKED ABOUT THE ARPT'S LOOK. AT ABOUT 1000 FT; 3 MI OUT; WE REALIZED OUR ERROR AND BEGAN A GAR JUST AS THE MIA TWR CTLR TOLD US TO DO SO. WE WERE THEN VECTORED TO A VISUAL ON RWY 9L AT MIA. THE OPA LOCKA TWR WAS CLOSED AND NO CONFLICT OCCURRED. I CALLED THE APCH FACILITY UPON ARR AT MIA AND WAS TOLD THAT THEIR DIGITAL RADAR WAS NOT WORKING AND NO IDENT WAS DISPLAYED ON THE RADAR RETURN WHICH CAUSED SOME CONFUSION. THE ACFT THE TWR CTLR SAW AND THOUGHT WAS US WAS ANOTHER ACFT ON APCH TO RWY 9L. APCH ALSO TOLD ME THEY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET OPA LOCKA TO TURN OFF THE LIGHTS TO RWY 12 WHEN THEY CLOSE TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING. POOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ON OUR PART AND A FEW SMALL ABNORMAL EVENTS ALMOST GOT ME.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.