B727 ON VECTOR IN 4600 FT MVA AREA RECEIVED GPWS TERRAIN WARNING AND PERFORMED AN ESCAPE CLB.

Narrative

ACFT WAS ON RADAR VECTOR FOR APCH TO RWY 34; ACFT HAD COME FROM N (SOT) AND WAS BEING VECTORED ON R DOWNWIND (EAST OF AVL) FOR ILS TO RWY 34. IMC (AVL WX WAS VISIBILITY OK AND 300 FT OVCST). ACFT WAS CLRED TO DSND FROM 6000 FT MSL TO 4600 FT MSL (APPROX ABEAM FIELD). AFTER LEVELING AT 4600 FT MSL FOR 15-20 SECONDS THE GPWS (MODE 2) 'TERRAIN; TERRAIN' ALERTED; BOTH PLTS WERE SURPRISED AS WE HAD ASSUMED THAT 4600 FT WAS MINIMUM VECTOR FOR THAT AREA. AS GPWS ALERTED SECOND TIME; PLTS INITIATED ESCAPE MANEUVER WITH GAR THRUST FOR MAX CLB ANGLE. WE CLBED TO MSA OF 7900 FT ON CHART (OTHER CHARTS' PAGES HAVE DIFFERENT (OFF SEPARATE BEACON) MSA FOR THAT AREA). WE NOTIFIED ATC. ATC SAID CLB TO 6000 FT MSL. THAT WAS NOT DONE AS PF HAD MENTALLY DECIDED TO CLB TO 7900 FT (MSA). REMAINDER OF APCH WAS NORMAL. ATC INFORMED US THAT THIS HAD HAPPENED BEFORE; PLTS EVEN WENT TO RADAR ROOM TO SEE AREA ON RADAR. CONCLUSION: TOO MUCH HIGH TERRAIN FOR MVA OF 4600 FT MSL IN THAT AREA -- FAA NEEDS TO FLT CHK. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR SAID THE B727 BELONGS TO A TRAVEL CLUB. RPTR STATED HE VISITED THE TRACON AND WAS SHOWN THE VECTOR AREA WHICH HE DESCRIBED AS BEING NARROW. RPTR SAID THAT HE WAS TOLD THAT THE FACILITY RECEIVED OTHER GPWS RPTS FROM ACRS; PVT AND MIL ACFT. RPTR INDICATED THAT THE FACILITY MIGHT CALL FOR A FLT CHK OF THE AREA. ANALYST LEARNED IN A CALLBACK TO THE PLANNING AND PROCS SPECIALIST AT THE FACILITY THAT A FLC CHK WAS MADE APPROX 5-6 MONTHS AGO SPECIFICALLY TO CHK THE MVA IN WHICH THE RPTS OF GPWS WERE RECEIVED. RPTR INDICATED THE AREA PASSED THE FLT CHK WITHOUT ADJUSTMENT OF THE MVA ALT. RPTR DID STATE THAT THE MD88 SPECIFICALLY HAD TO BE IDENTED WITH ITS HIGH PERFORMANCE RAPID RATE OF DSCNT AS BEING THE MAIN TYPE OF ACFT RECEIVING THE GPWS WARNINGS. RPTR STATED THAT THE MVA AREA WAS 6-8 MI NW OF THE ARPT. RPTR SAID HE IS UNAWARE OF ANY GPWS RPTS IN THE LAST 2 MONTHS.