PARO PLT LANDED AT THE WRONG ARPT.

Date: 1998-12

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit

Synopsis

PARO PLT LANDED AT THE WRONG ARPT.

Narrative

I WAS ENRTE TO CORONA WITH VFR FLT FOLLOWING. SOCAL VECTORED ME WESTWARD AND TOLD ME TO ACCELERATE MY DSCNT. I WENT FROM 500 FPM TO 1000 FPM DSCNT. SOCAL CAME BACK AND INSTRUCTED ME THAT THEY WERE NOT JOKING AND TO ACCELERATE MY DSCNT. I INCREASED MY DSCNT TO AROUND 1600 FPM. ATC TOLD ME TO TURN 90 DEGS W THEN SAID 'NO 90 DEGS E; SQUAWK 1200; FREQ CHANGE APPROVED; ARPT 4 MI E.' MY PAX; ALSO A PLT; ASKED ME 'DO YOU SEE THE ARPT?' I DID NOT. HE POINTED; AT WHICH TIME I SAW AN ARPT E OF OUR DIRECTION. I HEADED FOR IT. I RECEIVED AWOS FOR CORONA AND STARTED ANNOUNCING MY POS TO CORONA (WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE RIVERSIDE; CLASS D AIRSPACE). WE SAW A HELI NEAR THE ARPT. I DON'T BELIEVE ANY CORRECTIVE ACTIONS WERE TAKEN BY HIM. BUT I AM NOT SURE. ATC MAY HAVE HAD US ON RADAR AND ALERTED HIM. I LANDED AND NOTICED I WAS AT THE WRONG ARPT. I CONTACT RIVERSIDE GND AND TAXIED TO PARKING. THEY INSTRUCTED ME TO CONTACT RIVERSIDE TWR BY PHONE WHICH I DID. I HAVE SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME DISCUSSING THIS WITH A CFI. HE BELIEVES MORE INST TRAINING WOULD HAVE HELPED PREVENT MY BECOMING DISORIENTED. OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: ATC BEING SO BUSY IN THAT AIRSPACE THAT IT IS HARD TO GET IN TO ASK FOR A CLARIFICATION OR HELP. MY BEING UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND AN INADEQUATE FLT PLAN.

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