A PA34-200 SENECA PLT HAS A DIFFICULT TIME LNDG AT ACV; CA; DUE TO HIS INABILITY TO LAND INTO THE WIND IN A NIGHT OP. HE WAS UNABLE TO TURN ON THE PLT CTLED RWY LIGHTS FOR RWY 2 AND HAD TO SETTLE FOR A XWIND LNDG ON RWY 32 INSTEAD.
Synopsis
A PA34-200 SENECA PLT HAS A DIFFICULT TIME LNDG AT ACV; CA; DUE TO HIS INABILITY TO LAND INTO THE WIND IN A NIGHT OP. HE WAS UNABLE TO TURN ON THE PLT CTLED RWY LIGHTS FOR RWY 2 AND HAD TO SETTLE FOR A XWIND LNDG ON RWY 32 INSTEAD.
Narrative
I MADE AN INST APCH TO ACV ON AN IFR FLT PLAN IN VMC AT NIGHT. ACV HAS NO AWOS OR UNICOM; BUT ARTCC RELAYED OBSERVED WINDS FROM 040 DEGS. THEY WERE STRONG BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT SPD. A COMMUTER BRASILIA WAS WAITING FOR ME TO LAND FOR IFR RELEASE. GIVEN THE WINDS; I WAS SHOOTING THE VOR 2 VICE THE ILS/DME 32. RWY 32 IS THE 'PREFERRED' RWY AND HAS APCH LIGHTS. STILL; I DIDN'T WANT TO LAND MY SENECA I IN A STRONG XWIND IF I HAD THE CHOICE. NOTAMS GAVE PLT CTLED LIGHTING FREQS AS 123.5 (CTAF) FOR RWY 14/32 AND 123.3 FOR RWY 2/20. NOTE THAT THIS IS CONTRARY TO THE AIM WHICH SAYS PLT CTLED LIGHTING FOR ALL RWYS IS ON THE SAME FREQ. TRY AS I MIGHT; I COULDN'T GET LIGHTING ON RWY 2. I WAS SINGLE RADIO SO THE FREQ CHANGES KEPT ME OFF OF CTAF. IT WAS MY FIRST TIME INTO ACV AND I COULDN'T FIND THE FIELD WITHOUT THE LIGHTS. EVENTUALLY; I GOT CLOSE ENOUGH THAT I PICKED UP DIM LIGHTS FOR RWY 32. I DECIDED I WOULD HAVE TO ACCEPT THE XWIND SINCE I COULDN'T GET LIGHTS ON THE FAVORED RWY. BECAUSE OF THE CONFUSION; I WAS GETTING BEHIND THE ACFT. I WAS ABLE TO INTENSIFY THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 32 AS I ENTERED A LONG BASE. ANOTHER ACFT PROMPTLY DIMMED THEM. THEN A MIL HELI MADE A CALL THAT IT WAS ON FINAL TO RWY 2 (THE UNLIT ONE). I GOT SIGHT OF THE HELI AND ASKED IT IF IT WOULD CROSS RWY 32. IT SAID NO. BY NOW; I WAS ON FINAL. THE DISTR OF CONFLICTING TFC AND BEING BEHIND THE AIRPLANE HAD ME ON A HIGH; FAST APCH. WHEN A LARGE BURBLE OF OROGRAPHIC TURB LIFTED MY R WING 30 DEGS (AT ABOUT 90 FT AGL) I DECIDED TO TAKE IT AROUND. I CANCELED WITH CTR SO THE BRASILIA COULD LEAVE; TOOK A LAP AROUND THE PATTERN TO TRY TO GET RWY 2 LIGHTS. AN ARROW WAITING FOR TKOF COULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT EITHER. STILL BEHIND THE PLANE; I FLEW A TOO-LOW APCH WITH REDUCED FLAPS (MY FIRST IN THIS ACFT) TO LNDG. I LATER LEARNED FROM LCLS THAT RWY 2/20 LIGHTING CANNOT BE LIT UNTIL RWY 32/14 LIGHTS HAVE TIMED OUT. WITH THE AMOUNT OF COMMERCIAL TFC THERE; IT MAY NOT TIME OUT FOR A LONG TIME. FURTHERMORE; IF RWY 2/20 LIGHTS ARE ON; ACTUATION OF THE RWY 32/14 LIGHTS WILL PREEMPT THEM AND TURN THEM OFF! THE INABILITY TO LIGHT THE RWY FAVORED BY THE WIND LED TO 1) A FIXED WING TWIN LNDG IN A DANGEROUS XWIND; 2) A HELI LNDG ON AN UNLIT RWY; AND 3) THE 2 ACFT HAVING A POTENTIAL CONFLICT. RECOMMENDATION: CTAF FREQ PLT CTLED LIGHTING FOR ALL RWYS!
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.