PLT ENTERED CLASS D WITHOUT ESTABLISHING 2-WAY RADIO COM AND WAS ON FINAL APCH TO RWY AT THE WRONG ARPT. WRONG ARPT APCH. APCH ABANDONED.

1995-09 · NASA ASRS report 318858

Date: 1995-09 · Aircraft: PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit|other-unspecified

Synopsis

PLT ENTERED CLASS D WITHOUT ESTABLISHING 2-WAY RADIO COM AND WAS ON FINAL APCH TO RWY AT THE WRONG ARPT. WRONG ARPT APCH. APCH ABANDONED.

Narrative

WHILE ENRTE FROM ENSENADA; MEXICO; TO BROWN FIELD; UNITED STATES; IN A PA28; I CALLED TIJUANA APCH AND ASKED FOR RADAR VECTORS TO BROWN FIELD AND ALSO SAID I WOULD LIKE TO FLY DIRECTLY OVER MMTJ ARPT; ALL OF THE NAVS WERE SET UP FOR THAT APCH. I WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY FINDING MMTJ ARPT; EVEN WITH APCH CALLING OUT THE DISTANCE AND DIRECTION OF THE ARPT. IT WAS HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF HAZE WITH THE SUN LOW IN THE SKY; AND I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA. ABOUT 5 MI SW OF TIJUANA ARPT; TIJUANA APCH TURNED ME N AND SAID TO CROSS THE BORDER AT THIS TIME. SO I COMPLIED; THEN ASKED FOR BROWN FIELD LOCATION FROM WHERE I WAS XING. HE SAID 4 MI E AND THEN TOLD ME I SHOULD CONTACT BROWN FIELD. BY THE TIME I CONTACTED BROWN FIELD I WAS 1-1 1/2 MINS INTO THE UNITED STATES; AND ABOUT 2-2 1/2 MI N OF THE BORDER. ON MY INITIAL CALL TO BROWN FIELD I ALSO ASKED FOR RADAR VECTORS TO BROWN FIELD ARPT. THE TWR ASKED FOR MY POS AND SUGGESTED A HDG TO FLY. I DON'T REMEMBER IF THE TWR TOLD ME UNABLE RADAR VECTORS; IN THE AIR; BUT DO REMEMBER HER TELLING ME WHEN I CALLED THE TWR ON THE GND ON A LAND LINE. ANYWAY I CONTINUED INBOUND; AND TWR ASKED ME TO RPT ARPT IN SIGHT; MAKE L TFC FOR RWY 26R. I CALLED IN AND SAID I BELIEVE I HAVE ARPT IN SIGHT AT MY 2 O'CLOCK. TWR RESPONDED CLRED TO LAND RWY 26R. NOT HEARING A RESPONSE TO THE ARPT BEING AT MY 2 O'CLOCK I ASSUMED I WAS HEADED FOR THE RIGHT ARPT; EVEN THOUGH THE TWR CALLED FOR L TFC AND I WAS TURNING R. 'BAD JUDGEMENT CALL.' I TURNED R BASE. TWR CALLED TO ASK WHERE I WAS. I TOLD THE TWR I WAS ON BASE. TWR SAID THEY LOST SIGHT. I RPTED THE RWY NUMBERS WHEN I GOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE THEM AND REALIZED I WAS AT TIJUANA ARPT. BROWN TWR SAID TO CONTACT TIJUANA TWR. I COMPLIED. TIJUANA TWR SAID THIS HAPPENS OFTEN; TURN R; CONTACT BROWN TWR. I COMPLIED. BROWN TWR SAID MAKE L TFC RWY 26R. I REPLIED AND ADDED I DO NOT HAVE ARPT IN SIGHT. SO I CONTINUED TO FLY N; AND I HAD EVERYONE IN THE PLANE LOOKING FOR THE ARPT. ABOUT THIS TIME MY SON SAID A PLANE FLEW OVER US. AT THIS POINT I FINALLY SAW THE ARPT. I CALLED THE TWR AND TOLD THEM MY POS AND ASKED FOR R TFC. I DID THIS TWICE; EITHER WE XMITTED AT THE SAME TIME OR WE WERE STEPPED ON. TWR SAID CONTINUE DOWNWIND; CLRED TO LAND RWY 26R; AND CALL THE TWR BY PHONE WHEN ON THE GND. I COMPLIED. AFTER ABOUT 20 MINS; THE TWR AND I DECIDED THAT THERE WAS SOME BREAKDOWN IN COM AND PERHAPS WE COULD HAVE BETTER INFORMED EACH OTHER.

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

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