1997-08 · NASA ASRS report 377760
AN ACR MLG ACFT CLRED FOR LDA APCH; FLC MISSED NOTE ON APCH PLATE TO REMAIN ON THE LOC UNTIL MARKER BEFORE TURNING TO RWY LINE-UP.
ON ARR TO STL; WE WERE CLRED ILS RWY 30R APCH. WE WERE THEN RECLRED LDA RWY 30L STL DUE TO TFC AND ANOTHER ACFT'S EMER. WE FLEW THE APCH AND WERE TOLD TO CONTACT TWR JUST PRIOR TO JOESS INTXN. ON CONTACT WITH TWR; WE STATED 'VISUAL WITH THE FIELD FOR LNDG.' TWR RESPONDED WE WERE NOT CLR FOR THE VISUAL APCH AND TO RETURN TO THE LOC. THEN THEY CLRED US TO LAND 30 SECONDS LATER. THE NOTE TO REMAIN ON THE LOC ON THE CHART SHOULD BE STARRED AND ENLARGED. THE LNDG WAS COMPLETED WITHOUT INCIDENT. AS WITH ANY APCHS WITH NOTES OR SPECIAL PROCS; THE CTLR SHOULD BRING THEM TO THE ATTN OF AIR CREWS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 377865: TFC CAUSED MUCH VECTORING AND SPD CHANGES. WAS GIVEN APCH CLRNC AND FREQ CHANGE TO TWR. TWR VERY BUSY AND WAS DIFFICULT TO MAKE TIMELY CONTACT. I MISSED FINE PRINT IN 'NOTE' ON APCH PLATE WHICH SAYS AT JOESS; EXECUTE MISSED APCH; IF LNDG CLRNC OR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS NOT RECEIVED UPON REACHING JOESS. APPARENTLY; THEY HAD ALSO VECTORED ANOTHER ACFT ONTO RWY 30L LOC AND IT WAS FLYING THE ILS RWY 30L APCH. THIS ACFT WAS SLIGHTLY BEHIND AND BELOW. BECAUSE CEILING WAS 1800 FT AND VISIBILITY ABOUT 10 MI; I SIGHTED RWY EARLY. I CONTINUED TO FLY LDA LOC TO JOESS. AT JOESS IT SHOWS ARROWS ON A 312 DEG HDG TO RWY 30L. I STARTED LINING UP WITH RWY 30L AT JOESS WHEN I WAS INFORMED BY TWR I HAD NOT BEEN CLRED FOR A VISUAL. BECAUSE OF THE UNUSUAL PROCS FOR THIS APCH AND THE FINE PRINT AS THE ONLY INDICATION; I THINK IT IS A HAZARD. MORE ATTN GETTING MEASURES SHOULD BE USED TO ALERT PLTS OF THIS. IN THE VERY BUSY ENVIRONMENT WHERE APCHS ARE CHANGED LATE; IT IS TOO EASY TO MISS THESE INSTRUCTIONS. IT IS ALSO VERY DANGEROUS AND UNWISE TO PUT ACFT ON THESE 2 APCHS AT THE SAME TIME TO THE SAME RWY. TALKED TO APCH; SAID ACFT MAKE THIS MISTAKE FREQUENTLY. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR WAS ALLOWED TO MAKE THE APCH AFTER THE TWR CTLR ASKED THE FOLLOWING ACFT IF HE HAD THE TFC; ACFT X; IN SIGHT. WITH AN AFFIRMATIVE ANSWER THE RPTR MADE A SHORT APCH AND LNDG WITH A QUICK RWY EXIT. HE FEELS THAT THE TWR OR APCH CTLR SHOULD REMIND THE FLCS OF THE 4.4 MI RESTR AT JOESS IF AND WHEN A LAST MIN RWY OR APCH METHOD CHANGE IS MADE; AS IT WAS IN THIS CASE. INCIDENT GAVE THE CREW LITTLE TIME TO REVIEW THE CHART. RPTR FEELS THAT THE WHOLE APCH IS WEIRD; ALMOST LIKE A 'CONEY ISLAND GAME' WITH A 'MAYBE WE'LL LET YOU IN...WE'LL CALL YOU BACK' ATTITUDE. WX WAS NOT A FACTOR; RPTR HAD THE ARPT AND RWY MANY MI OUT FROM JOESS. THE CONVERSATION WITH APCH ON FLC REVIEW WAS LIGHT; NOT HVY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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