A C182 PLT TAKES OFF ON RWY 34 WHEN HE HAD BEEN CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 16 AT EUG; OR.
Synopsis
A C182 PLT TAKES OFF ON RWY 34 WHEN HE HAD BEEN CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 16 AT EUG; OR.
Narrative
DEPARTING FOR A ROUTINE; DAY VFR TRIP TO RETURN TO PDX AFTER A BUSINESS MEETING IN EUGENE; CLRED FOR TKOF ON RWY 16 WITH A NBOUND DEP. TOOK OFF ON RWY 34 BY ACCIDENT WITH A NBOUND DEP. I DIDN'T CATCH THE ERROR UNTIL TWR STARTED MOVING TFC OUT OF MY WAY. I DO THIS TRIP ON A WKLY BASIS. I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE RTES; ARPTS AND CTLRS. 90% OF THE TIME; I GET A RWY 34 DEP WITH A STRAIGHT OUT; OFTEN WITH A TAILWIND TKOF. THIS WAS AN 'EASY' VFR FLT; AND MY MIND FELL INTO A HABIT PATTERN THAT I DIDN'T CATCH. I HEARD 'NBOUND DEP APPROVED' AND AUTOMATICALLY DID WHAT I USUALLY DO WITHOUT THINKING. MY HEAD WAS ON WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO IN PORTLAND; NOT WHAT I WAS DOING THEN. UNFORTUNATELY; THE CTLR WAS DISTR BY OTHER THINGS AND DIDN'T CATCH MY MISTAKE UNTIL AFTER I WAS AIRBORNE. THE CTLR REMAINED PROFESSIONAL THROUGHOUT THE INCIDENT; AND RPTED 1 AIRPLANE ON FINAL APCH THAT I DIDN'T SEE. I MANEUVERED OUT OF THE TFC PATTERN AND OUT OF CLASS D AIRSPACE AND CONTINUED THE OTHERWISE UNEVENTFUL FLT TO PDX. THIS WAS A BREAKDOWN IN COCKPIT DISCIPLINE. I WAS FLYING BY 'AUTOPLT' -- MY MIND WAS ELSEWHERE. I DIDN'T SO MY NORMAL TKOF CHKLIST; WHICH INCLUDES VERIFYING HDG WITH CLRNC. I WASN'T REALLY PAYING ATTN TO THE CLRNC; DESPITE AN (AUTOMATIC) READBACK THAT WAS CORRECT. THE FAMILIARITY OF THE FLT AND THE LACK OF CHALLENGING WX CONDITIONS LULLED ME TO THE POINT WHERE I WAS NOT A SAFE PLT. FORTUNATELY; ENOUGH OTHER PEOPLE WERE LOOKING OUT FOR ME THAT NO ONE GOT HURT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.