B737-300 HIGH MINIMUMS FLC ON SECOND CAT II APCH DELAYED REACTION FOR REQUIRED MISSED APCH THEN LANDED WITH 1200 FT RVR AT SFO.

Date: 1998-12 · Aircraft: B737-300

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-unspecified

Synopsis

B737-300 HIGH MINIMUMS FLC ON SECOND CAT II APCH DELAYED REACTION FOR REQUIRED MISSED APCH THEN LANDED WITH 1200 FT RVR AT SFO.

Narrative

UPON ARR INTO SFO AREA; BAY APCH ADVISED US SFO HAD TOUCHDOWN VISUAL OF 1200 FT. I'M A NEWLY QUALIFIED CAPT AND HAVE A HIGH MINIMUM RESTR OF CAT II MINIMUMS. THEREFORE; WE RECEIVED VECTORS AND CLRNC TO START THE APCH TO ILS RWY 28R (AUTOLAND) SINCE WE HAD CAT II MINIMUMS. WE WERE ESTABLISHED ON THE APCH WHEN THE CTLR SAID THE RVR WAS NOW 800 FT; SO WE TOLD HIM WE NEEDED TO GO MISSED APCH. HE THEN GAVE US A HDG AND ALT AWAY FROM THE APCH COURSE; AND WE COMPLIED. AFTER EXTENSIVE VECTORING AND WAITING FOR THE WX TO IMPROVE; WE WERE CLRED FOR THE APCH AGAIN AFTER THE RVR IMPROVED TO 1200 FT. APCH CTLR THEN SWITCHED US TO TWR; WHO THEN ADVISED THE ACFT AHEAD OF US THAT THE RVR WAS NOW 1000 FT. WE THEN TOLD TWR WE WOULD NEED TO GO MISSED APCH SINCE WE WEREN'T INSIDE THE FAF. TWR DID NOT RESPOND SO WE REPEATED OUR INTENTIONS TO TWR AND AWAITED THEIR RESPONSE. THE FLT CONDITIONS AT THIS POINT WERE VERY UNIQUE -- VFR OVER MOST OF THE PENINSULA; EXCEPT FOR DENSE FOG FLOWING THROUGH THE GAP N OF SFO. IN FACT; WE COULD SEE THE THRESHOLD LIGHTS FOR RWY 28R. FINALLY; TWR CALLED THE RVR AT 1200 FT AND CLRED US TO LAND. WE CONTINUED THE APCH FOR AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG. IN HINDSIGHT; WE SHOULD'VE EXECUTED THE PUBLISHED MISSED APCH PROC WHEN TWR CALLED THE RVR AT 1000 FT WITHOUT HESITATION. 3 FACTORS WHICH LED US TO HESITATE EXECUTING THE MISSED APCH: 1) ON THE PREVIOUS APCH; WE WERE GIVEN A HDG AND ALT TO DISCONTINUE THE APCH. I ASSUMED TWR WOULD DO THE SAME. I BELIEVE TWR WAS WAITING FOR THE RVR TO GO UP TO RESPOND TO US -- WHICH HE DID. 2) WE WERE IN VMC WITH THE END OF THE RWY IN SIGHT. 3) WE WERE ESSENTIALLY ON THE MISSED APCH PATH ALREADY; WE JUST HADN'T 'CLEANED UP' OR PUSHED THE 'GAR' BUTTON. LESSON LEARNED: DON'T ASSUME OR WAIT FOR TWR TO GIVE MISSED APCH INSTRUCTIONS OR A NEW RVR RPT. IF WX GOES BELOW MINIMUMS; OUTSIDE THE FAF; EXECUTE THE PUBLISHED MISSED APCH PROC UNLESS TOLD OTHERWISE.

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