AIR TAXI SMT MAKING NIGHT LNDG AT NON TWR ARPT SIGHTS SOMETHING MOVING NEAR END OF RWY. LEVELING OFF AT 20-30 FT AGL HE SIGHTS AN ACFT TAXIING DOWN RWY OR ON TKOF ROLL. NO LIGHTS ON. A GAR WAS PERFORMED.
Synopsis
AIR TAXI SMT MAKING NIGHT LNDG AT NON TWR ARPT SIGHTS SOMETHING MOVING NEAR END OF RWY. LEVELING OFF AT 20-30 FT AGL HE SIGHTS AN ACFT TAXIING DOWN RWY OR ON TKOF ROLL. NO LIGHTS ON. A GAR WAS PERFORMED.
Narrative
I WAS GOING TO VGT ON A PART 135 NIGHT CARGO FLT. RADAR SVC HAD BEEN TERMINATED FROM LAS APCH APPROX 5 MI FROM VGT. I SWITCHED OVER TO VGT CTAF FREQ 125.7 (TWR WASN'T OPEN YET). I WAS DOING A STRAIGHT-IN APCH TO RWY 30. I CALLED MY POS AT 5 MI OUT; 1 MI FINAL AND SHORT FINAL. THERE WAS NO RESPONSE AND NO OTHER ACFT RPTING ON THE FREQ. THE RWY LIGHTS I BELIEVE WERE ON LOW INTENSITY. ON SHORT FINAL I NOTICED SOMETHING MOVE IN FRONT OF THE TXWY EDGE LIGHTS AT THE APCH END OF RWY 30 AND THEN IN FRONT OF THE L SIDE OF THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS. I COULDN'T SEE WHAT IT WAS AND THINKING IT MIGHT BE SOME TYPE OF ANIMAL GOING ON THE RWY; I LEVELED OFF ABOUT 20-30 FT ABOVE THE APCH END OF THE RWY TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING IN FRONT OF ME. JUST AFTER XING THE THRESHOLD MY LNDG LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHAT APPEARED TO BE A HIGH WING SINGLE ENG AIRPLANE WITH NO LIGHTS OF ANY KIND ON -- EITHER TAXIING DOWN THE RWY OR ON TKOF ROLL. I IMMEDIATELY INITIATED A GAR PASSING OVER THE ACFT MISSING IT BY APPROX 10-20 FT. I CIRCLED AROUND IN THE TFC PATTERN AND LANDED ON RWY 30 AFTER MAKING SURE THE RWY WAS CLR. AFTER LNDG I TRIED TO REACH THE OTHER ACFT REPEATEDLY ON CTAF WITH NO RESPONSE. I DON'T KNOW IF THE ACFT TOOK OFF OR TAXIED TO SOME PLACE ELSE ON THE ARPT. I WAS UNABLE TO FIND OUT WHO IT WAS. LOOKING BACK I SHOULD HAVE TURNED UP THE RWY EDGE LIGHTS TO HIGH INTENSITY TO HELP ME SEE BETTER BUT I DIDN'T THINK OF IT AT THE TIME.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.