SMA PLT DSNDS BELOW MINS FOR THE ILS CIRCLE TO LAND APCH.

Date: 1995-12 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: deviation-altitude-overshoot|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|inflight-event-encounter-cftt-cfit

Synopsis

SMA PLT DSNDS BELOW MINS FOR THE ILS CIRCLE TO LAND APCH.

Narrative

ATIS AT MYF WAS 300 FT OVCST; VISIBILITY 1-3 MI IN FOG; WINDS 120 DEGS 9 KTS. I CALLED ZLA ABOUT 80 NM FROM MYF AND REQUESTED IFR CLRNC. I HAVE FLOWN ILS RWY 28R APCH OVER 100 TIMES; INCLUDING 10-15 TIMES WITH CEILING LESS THAN 500 FT. UNFORTUNATELY; THE UNUSUAL EASTERLY WIND RESULTED IN A CIRCLE-TO-LAND CLRNC TO RWY 10. THIS INFO DID NOT REGISTER CORRECTLY IN MY BRAIN SO I PROCEEDED ON THE APCH. I FLEW IN THE CLOUDS FOR 20 MIN FROM 7500 FT RIGHT DOWN THE ILS TO THE GND. I BROKE OUT AT 300-400 FT AGL RIGHT OVER THE APCH LIGHTS. THE TWR INSTRUCTED ME TO MAKE A CIRCLING APCH TO RWY 10L. IN RETROSPECT; THE MINIMUM DSCNT ALT FOR THE APCH IS 457 FT. I WAS UNABLE TO MAKE A NORMAL APCH AND DSCNT TO LNDG SO I DECLARED A MISSED APCH AFTER 2 ATTEMPTS TO CIRCLE THE ARPT. AFTER I CLBED THROUGH THE OVCST AND TO VFR ON-TOP; I PROCEEDED TO MY ALTERNATE ARPT; BORREGO SPRINGS. WHILE ENRTE; THE SOCAL DEP CTLR ASKED ME FOR MY NAME WHICH I GAVE HIM. HE DID NOT INFORM ME THAT I DID ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE; BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT I DID MAKE AT LEAST 2 ERRORS THAT DAY. FIRST; I FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THAT I WAS CLRED FOR THE ILS RWY 28R; CIRCLE-TO-LAND RWY 10R/L APCH WHICH HAS A HIGHER MINIMUM DSCNT ALT THAN THE STRAIGHT IN ILS RWY 28R APCH. SECOND; I MADE AN ERROR IN JUDGEMENT BY ATTEMPTING THE CIRCLE-TO-LAND WHEN I COULD NOT MAKE A 'NORMAL APCH AND DSCNT TO LNDG.' AT XA:00 THAT DAY; I SUCCESSFULLY MADE A STRAIGHT IN ILS RWY 28R APCH WITH A 500 FT OVCST CEILING.

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