A BE199 FLC MISTAKES CARIBOU MUNI ARPT FOR PQI AND PERFORMS A VISUAL APCH AND LNDG DURING A NIGHT OP. ZBW; HAD GIVEN THE CREW A VECTOR AND AN ARPT ADVISORY.
Synopsis
A BE199 FLC MISTAKES CARIBOU MUNI ARPT FOR PQI AND PERFORMS A VISUAL APCH AND LNDG DURING A NIGHT OP. ZBW; HAD GIVEN THE CREW A VECTOR AND AN ARPT ADVISORY.
Narrative
ON JAN/XA/99 I WAS THE ACTING FO ON A SCHEDULED PART 121 FLT FROM BOSTON TO PRESQUE ISLE; ME; ARPT. THE WX AT PRESQUE ISLE WAS WIND 160 DEGS AT 10 KTS; GUSTING TO 16 KTS; 10 MI VISIBILITY; 6000 FT OVCST; TEMP 3 DEGS C/-2 DEGS C; ALTIMETER 30.01. NOTAM WAS FOR PATCHY THIN ICE ON RWY 1/19. ATC WAS VECTORING US FOR THE PRESQUE ISLE ARPT. ATC RPTED THE ARPT TO US AT 12 O'CLOCK AND 6 MI. WE SAW THE BEACON AND CALLED THE FIELD IN SIGHT. WE WERE THEN CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH. WE THEN COMPLETED A NORMAL VISUAL APCH AND LNDG TO RWY 19. ON THE GND WE REALIZED WE WERE NOT AT PRESQUE ISLE ARPT. REALIZING WE WERE AT CARIBOU ARPT; WE ATTEMPTED WITHOUT SUCCESS TO CONTACT COMPANY OPS; ATC; AND UNICOM VIA RADIO. WE WERE ALSO UNABLE TO LOCATE AN OPEN FACILITY ON THE FIELD. AFTER CONSIDERATION OF WX; PERFORMANCE; ACFT WT AND RWY LENGTH IT WAS DETERMINED BY THE PIC THAT A TKOF WITH FLAPS 17 DEGS COULD SAFELY BE MADE. WE TAXIED ONTO RWY 19 AND DEPARTED. ONCE AIRBORNE; WE CONTACTED ATC AND RECEIVED VECTORS FOR THE LOC AT PRESQUE ISLE ARPT. WE MADE AN UNEVENTFUL APCH AND LNDG TO THE PRESQUE ISLE ARPT. I THINK THE CAUSE HERE WAS PLT INDUCED ERROR. I THINK ATC MAY ALSO BE TO BLAME FOR THE INABILITY TO ENSURE THE CREW HAD THE PROPER ARPT IN SIGHT. TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE THERE MUST BE INCREASED PLT AWARENESS OF MULTIPLE ARPT LOCATIONS IN AN AREA AND INCREASED ATC AWARENESS AND POSSIBLY NEW PROCS FOR ENSURING ACFT (IFR AND VFR) ARE VECTORED TO AND IDENT THE CORRECT ARPT. IN THIS CASE; ATC DID NOT WARN US OF THE LOCATION OF ANOTHER ARPT IN THE PROX OF PRESQUE ISLE. AN EXAM OF ATC PROCS AND OPS MAY BE APPROPRIATE. ADDITIONALLY; IT WAS DARK; THE ARPT LAYOUTS LOOK VERY SIMILAR AND THE RELATIVE POS OF THE TOWN TO THE ARPT IS THE SAME. THESE AND OTHER FACTORS; I THINK; ARE IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER. AS A PLT; IT IS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THIS AND OTHER SIMILAR OCCURRENCES DESERVE SPECIAL ATTN.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.