FLC COMMENCES APCH TO 2 WRONG ARPTS.

Narrative

DURING A LATE NIGHT FLT OVER THE SHORT SEGMENT FROM LAX TO ONT WE BECAME DISORIENTED AND TEMPORARILY CONFUSED ABOUT THE POSITIVE IDENT OF OUR DEST ARPT. WE ULTIMATELY IDENTED ONT AND LANDED SUCCESSFULLY; BUT ONLY AFTER TENTATIVELY MISIDENTING BOTH BRACKETT AND CABLE ARPTS -- 9 NM W AND 5 NM W; RESPECTIVELY -- AS ONTARIO INTL ARPT. NUMEROUS UNRELATED ELEMENTS CONTRIBUTED TO MAKING THIS SIT HAPPEN: THE SCHEDULED SHIFT STARTED AT XA15 AND ENDED AT XO02; 13 HRS AND 47 MINS ON DUTY; INCLUDING 6 HRS AND 35 MINS ON THE GND AT ONT. THE DREADED STAND-UP OVERNIGHT! THIS SCHEDULE ENCOURAGES MOST CREWS TO TAKE A SHORT CUT (WITH ATC APPROVAL) REDUCING THE TKOF TO LNDG DISTANCE FROM 80 NM OVER THE FILED RTE TO ABOUT 45 NM VIA AN OFF-AIRWAY DIRECT RTE. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE SHORTER RTE ALLOWS A CREW 10 EXTRA MINS AT THE HOTEL; A TOTAL OF 6 HRS IF WE REALLY HUSTLE. THE ONLY ON ARPT NAVAID IS THE ILS DME RWY 26L OR RWY 26R. THE SHORT CUT PROC INVOLVES LNDG ON RWY 08L OR RWY 08R (RARELY A PROB DUE TO PREVAILING CALM WIND CONDITION). THE ASSOCIATED NDB IS 12 NM E AND THE NEAREST VOR IS 9 NM SE. THIS LEAVES US WITH A LACK OF NAVAIDS TO VERIFY THE ARPT; ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA WHEN APCHING VISUALLY. THE DME DISPLAY OF 10 MI; WHILE ABOUT 3 MI OUT FROM THE FIRST WRONGLY IDENTED ARPT; WAS OUR FIRST CLUE THAT WE WERE IN THE WRONG PLACE. THE HAZE MADE CLOSE LANDMARKS APPEAR TO BE MORE DISTANT; DISRUPTING OUR INTERP OF THE CONSTELLATION OF ARPT BEACONS IN AN OTHERWISE MONOTONOUS LANDSCAPE OF YELLOW SODIUM VAPOR STREET LIGHTS.