PA28-200 PLT HAS RADIO FAILURE; MISTAKES ONE ARPT FOR ANOTHER AND LANDS AT TWR CTLED ARPT. UNAUTH PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE CLASS B.

Date: 1997-03 · Aircraft: PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit|other-unspecified

Synopsis

PA28-200 PLT HAS RADIO FAILURE; MISTAKES ONE ARPT FOR ANOTHER AND LANDS AT TWR CTLED ARPT. UNAUTH PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE CLASS B.

Narrative

I RENTED THE AIRPLANE; A PIPER ARROW; TO DO TKOFS AND LNDGS FOR NIGHT CURRENCY. ALTHOUGH THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME IN THIS PARTICULAR ARROW; I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE MODEL. I RECEIVED ATIS INFO AT APA; AND THEN COMMUNICATED WITH GND AND TWR DURING TAXI AND TKOF. I LEFT APA ARPT AROUND XA00 PM LCL TIME SO I COULD DO THE FIRST LNDGS BEFORE TOTAL DARKNESS. I HEADED FOR FTG ARPT BECAUSE IT IS A NON CTLED ARPT IN A SCARCELY POPULATED AREA JUST E OF DENVER. IT HAS VERY FEW LIGHTS AROUND IT SO IT IS IDEAL FOR NIGHT PRACTICE. WHEN APCHING FTG; I REQUESTED AND RECEIVED ARPT INFO ON THE UNICOM FREQ. THEY INFORMED ME THAT RWY 26 WAS IN USE. I MADE SEVERAL LNDGS DURING THE NEXT HR. I WAS DILIGENTLY RPTING MY POS IN THE TFC PATTERN AS REQUIRED SINCE THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE TFC. SEVERAL AIRPLANES ARRIVED AT FTG DURING THIS TIME AND I WAS ABLE TO HEAR THEIR COMS. AFTER ABOUT 1 HR I LEFT FTG AND TURNED TO THE S TO FLY SOME MORE NIGHT VFR IN THE UNCTLED AIRSPACE S AND W OF APA. I FINALLY DECIDED TO RETURN TO HOME BASE. I DIALED IN THE FREQ FOR ATIS AT AROUND XB30 PM BUT COULD NOT PICK UP APA ATIS. ASSUMING THAT THEY ARE RECORDING NEW INFO; I FLEW FOR ANOTHER 10- 15 MINS WITH 1 RADIO ON APA TWR FREQ AND THE OTHER ON THE ATIS BUT COULD NOT HEAR ANY COMS ON EITHER CHANNEL. FINALLY I CALLED APA TWR TO REQUEST CLRNC FOR LNDG. I GOT NO ANSWER EVEN AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPT SO I TRIED GND AND UNICOM WITHOUT ANY SUCCESS. I TURNED TO THE SE FROM APA; CLBED; AND TRIED TO ISOLATE THE PROB BY CHANGING THE SETTING ON MY COM RADIOS TO VARIOUS FREQS OF OTHER ARPTS IN THE VICINITY BUT THE ONLY THING I COULD HEAR WAS STATIC. HOWEVER; WHEN I TUNED MY ADF TO A NEARBY COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION I WAS ABLE TO HEAR THEIR EVENING PROGRAM BOTH IN MY HEADSET AND THROUGH THE OVERHEAD SPEAKER OF THE AIRPLANE. THIS CONVINCED ME THAT MY COM RADIOS DID NOT WORK BUT I DID NOT KNOW IF ONLY MY RECEIVERS DIED OR BOTH THE RECEIVERS AND XMITTERS WERE OUT AT THE SAME TIME. EVEN THOUGH I HEARD THE STATIC FROM BOTH RADIOS I CHKED THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS USING MY FLASHLIGHT; BOTH WERE IN. I KNEW THAT MY ADF AND DME WORKED; BUT I HAD NO COMS AND VERY WEAK NAV RECEPTION. I SUSPECTED A LOSS OF THE NAV/COM ANTENNA. TROUBLESHOOTING THE RADIOS TOOK ANOTHER 20-30 MINS; SO BY THIS TIME I HAD BEEN IN THE AIR FOR ABOUT 2 HRS. I KNEW I HAD FUEL AND I SWITCHED TANKS REGULARLY DURING THE EVENING; SO I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF GAS. I DECIDED TO RETURN TO FTG SINCE IT WAS A NON CTLED ARPT AND ALSO BECAUSE IT WAS THE LAST FREQ WHERE I WAS ABLE TO COMMUNICATE. I MADE SEVERAL CALLS TO FTG UNICOM WITHOUT ANY ANSWER FROM THEM. I MONITORED DME; ADF; AND THE WEAK VORS TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE CLASS B AIRSPACE OVER DEN AND AT THE SAME TIME I WAS LOOKING FOR THE ARPT TO THE L OF MY AIRPLANE. FINALLY; WHEN I SPOTTED RWY LIGHTING IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF WHERE I EXPECTED FTG TO APPEAR I PREPARED FOR LNDG IN THE BELIEF THAT I FINALLY REACHED FTG. I WAS ON EXTENDED BASE LEG FOR RWY 26. I VISUALLY MONITORED TFC AND ANNOUNCED MY TURN TO FINAL TO FTG RWY 26 JUST IN CASE MY XMITTER STILL WORKED. I TURNED ON FINAL AFTER AN AIRPLANE THAT APPEARED TO BE A BIGGER JET AND FOLLOWED IT. WHEN I WAS ABOUT 5-6 MI FROM THE RWY END I REALIZED THAT I WAS LNDG AT THE WRONG ARPT. I WAS LNDG AT DEN RWY 26 INSTEAD OF FTG RWY 26. I OVERFLEW FTG THAT IS TO THE S OF DEN BY 5 MI. I WAS ALREADY WITHIN THE CENTRAL 10 MI CIRCLE OF THE DEN CLASS B AIRSPACE IN VIOLATION OF FAA RULES AND BY THIS TIME I WAS ABOUT 300- 400 FT AGL. I DECIDED TO CONTINUE WITH THE LNDG INSTEAD OF ABORTING IT. I LATER LEARNED WHEN TALKING TO DEN TWR THAT THEY HAD TO SEND AROUND A HVY BECAUSE OF ME. I THINK THAT TRYING TO RETURN TO FTG THAT IS A NON CTLED ARPT AFTER TOTAL COM FAILURE AT NIGHT WAS A BETTER CHOICE THAN TRYING TO LAND AT APA; EVEN THOUGH APA IS THE HOME BASE FOR THE ACFT. THE STRESS CAUSED BY THE RADIO FAILURE WAS THE MAIN FACTOR FOR LNDG AT THE WRONG ARPT. I WAS AWARE OF MY PROX TO THE CTLED AIRSPACE AND I TRIED TO STAY OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSBAIRSPACE USING ALL AVAILABLE (AND WORKING) NAVAIDS. I JUST RECENTLY MOVED TO DENVER AND THIS WAS MY FIRST NIGHT FLT HERE. THOUGH I WAS IN CTL OF THE ACFT; I FELT I WAS TIRING AND I WANTED TO BE ON THE GND AS SOON AS I COULD. THE CLOSE PROX OF THE 2 ARPTS AND BOTH HAVING RWY 26'S HELPED A GREAT DEAL TO CREATE MY CONFUSION. HAVING A RWY GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION WHEN YOU NEED TO LAND IS VERY ENTICING. ACTIONS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN DIFFERENTLY: TO SET XPONDER TO 7600. I INTENTIONALLY DECIDED AGAINST IT BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WOULD BE RETURNING TO FTG. AS A RESULT; I FLEW INTO THE CLASS B AIRSPACE AND DEN WITH THE VFR CODE. BY THE TIME I REALIZED THAT I WAS AT DEN I WAS TOO FAR INTO THE LNDG AND I DIDN'T WANT TO DIVIDE MY ATTN BTWN THE XPONDER AND FLYING THE AIRPLANE.

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