FLC OF A DC9 MISSED THE RWY ALIGNMENT DURING A VISUAL APCH AND THE TWR QUESTIONED THEIR INTENTIONS RESULTING IN A MISSED APCH.

Narrative

WE WERE LEFT FAIRLY HIGH BY CTR AND; AS A NEW PLT ON THE ACFT; I WAS STRUGGLING TO DECELERATE AND DSND SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE CAPT INFORMED ME THAT WE WERE ON GS AND WE SHOULD BE OK ON OUR DSCNT. I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT; THE CAPT CALLED THE FIELD; AND WE WERE CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 32. I HAD THE LOC FREQ TUNED AND IDENTED ON BOTH SIDES; WITH THE LOC NEEDLE NEARLY FULL SCALE R. I TURNED R TO INTERCEPT -- ALTHOUGH I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT; I DID NOT HAVE THE RWY IN SIGHT. THE CAPT TOLD ME HE HAD THE RWY. A MOMENT LATER THE CAPT ASKED ME TO 'TURN L; WIDEN IT OUT A BIT.' IT DID NOT SEEM TO MAKE SENSE TO ME; AS THE LOC NEEDLE WAS STILL FULL SCALE R; BUT I COMPLIED. A FEW MINS LATER THE CAPT AGAIN ASKED ME TO 'TAKE IT OUT A BIT MORE TO THE L; HEAD TOWARDS THE GUARD HANGAR.' I GREW UP IN THIS AREA AND AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE PITTSBURGH ARPT; I SAW THE GUARD HANGARS WELL TO THE R. I WAS NOT SURE WHERE THE CAPT WAS ASKING ME TO GO. JUST THEN; THE TWR CALLED; 'WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT UP THERE?' I SAID; 'CAPT; YOU HAVE THE ACFT; I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO.' THE CAPT TOOK THE ACFT; I TOLD TWR WE WOULD BE EXECUTING A MISSED APCH; AND WE BEGAN THE MISSED APCH PROC. TWR WAS IN THE PROCESS OF TURNING THE ARPT AROUND AND WE WERE SUBSEQUENTLY CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH AND LNDG ON RWY 10L. THE MISSED APCH DID NOT OCCUR BELOW 1000 FT AGL. I AM WRITING THIS FOR A FEW REASONS. AS A NEW HIRE WITH VERY LITTLE TIME IN THE ACFT; I FOLLOWED THE CAPT'S COMMANDS DESPITE THE FACT THAT I WAS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND THE ARPT. THE CAPT WAS BASED IN ANOTHER CITY AND; ALTHOUGH FAMILIAR WITH PITTSBURGH; WE OBVIOUSLY DID NOT AGREE ON WHAT WE WERE SEEING. WE WERE BOTH FATIGUED; AND A NIGHT VISUAL APCH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THE BEST IDEA. WE WERE ALSO RUSHED TO DSND AFTER THE LATE HDOF FROM CTR. I THINK THAT HAD I PERHAPS BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE ASSERTIVE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED; BUT BECAUSE I WAS NEW IN THE AIRPLANE AND A LITTLE BIT HESITANT; I JUST DID WHAT I WAS TOLD. UNFORTUNATELY; IT WENT A BIT TOO FAR BEFORE IT WAS CORRECTED. PERHAPS ADDING A NIGHT VISUAL APCH LIMITATION TO NEW HIRE PLTS WITH LESS THAN 100 HRS IN TYPE MIGHT HELP THE SIT IN THE FUTURE. THE CAPT ALSO INDICATED THAT; SHOULD WE HAVE TO EXPLAIN OUR MISS; WE WOULD TELL THEM THAT; AS A NEW HIRE I WAS 'BEHIND THE AIRPLANE.' I DO NOT FEEL AS THOUGH THIS WAS THE CASE EITHER. THE ACFT WAS ON SPD AND CONFIGURED FOR MANEUVERING. I WAS CORRECTING IN THE PROPER DIRECTION TO JOIN THE LOC. I HAD THE ACFT UNDER CTL; JUST POOR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND POOR COM BTWN CREW MEMBERS.