C90 TRACON CTLR CATCHES GA PLT OFF THE VOR COURSE ON APCH TO ARR; IL. POS IS QUESTIONED AND INTERCEPT HEADING ISSUED.
Synopsis
C90 TRACON CTLR CATCHES GA PLT OFF THE VOR COURSE ON APCH TO ARR; IL. POS IS QUESTIONED AND INTERCEPT HEADING ISSUED.
Narrative
WHILE ENRTE TO THE AURORA MUNICIPAL ARPT (KARR) ON AN IFR FLT; I OVERSHOT THE FINAL APCH COURSE FOR VOR 33 INTO AURORA. LIMITED VISIBILITIES EXISTED IN THE AREA; WHICH NECESSITATED THE USE OF THE APCH; ALTHOUGH NO REAL CEILING EXISTED. APPROX 5 MI FROM THE JOLIET VOR (JOT); I WAS INSTRUCTED BY CHICAGO APCH TO MAINTAIN 3000 FT UNTIL ESTABLISHED AND WAS CLRED FOR THE VOR 33 APCH INTO AURORA. I READ THE CLRNC BACK; LOCATED THE APCH PLATE FOR VOR 33 AND BEGAN TO PREPARE FOR THE APCH. HOWEVER; BY THE TIME I COMPLETED THE PREPARATION FOR THE APCH; I WAS APPROX 4 MI PAST THE JOLIET VOR. I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN MY DSCNT FROM MY LAST ASSIGNED ALT OF 4000 FT MSL TO THE INITIAL APCH ALT OF 3000 FT MSL AND TURNED BACK TOWARD THE FINAL APCH COURSE OF 330 DEGS FROM THE JOT VOR. SHORTLY AFTER BEGINNING MY DSCNT AND TURN TO THE APCH COURSE; I WAS CONTACTED BY CHICAGO APCH ABOUT MY LOCATION ON THE APCH COURSE AND ALT. I ACKNOWLEDGED MY OVERSHOOT OF THE APCH COURSE AND NOTIFIED THEM THAT I WAS TURNING BACK TO INTERCEPT THE APCH COURSE AND DSNDING TO 3000 FT MSL. AT THAT TIME; I WAS ASSIGNED A 010 DEG HDG TO INTERCEPT THE APCH COURSE AND WAS AGAIN CLRED FOR THE VOR 33 APCH INTO AURORA. UPON INTERCEPTING THE LOC COURSE; I CONTINUED MY DSCNT PER THE PUBLISHED APCH PROC AND WAS PASSED TO THE AURORA TWR. THE APCH TERMINATED WITH A VISUAL CIRCLING APCH TO RWY 15 FOR A FULL-STOP LNDG. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THIS EVENT WERE INADEQUATE PREPARATION TIME AND RELATIVELY LOW TIME IN TYPE. IN A TWIN-ENG ACFT; OPERATING SINGLE-PLT; THINGS HAPPEN VERY QUICKLY. I DID NOT REACT AND PREPARE FOR THE APCH QUICKLY ENOUGH TO BEGIN THE ASSIGNED APCH BEFORE THE OVERSHOOT. ADDITIONALLY; I WAS NOT ALLOWED ADEQUATE TIME TO PREPARE FOR THE APCH. AT MY 180 KT GND SPD; I HAD APPROX 2 MINS TO PREPARE FOR THE APCH. THESE 2 MAIN CAUSES LEAD TO THE OVERSHOOT OF THE FINAL APCH COURSE. FORTUNATELY; THERE WAS NO IMMEDIATE DANGER AND THE APCH TERMINATED WITHOUT INCIDENT; BUT THE POSSIBILITY FOR IMMEDIATE DANGER EXISTED. NORMALLY; ATC ALLOWS ADEQUATE TIME TO PREPARE WHEN A PLT SHOULD EXPECT A PARTICULAR INST APCH PROC. HOWEVER; IN THIS SIT; I WAS NOT GIVEN ENOUGH TIME FOR SEVERAL REASONS. FIRST; IN NORMAL INST METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC); PLTS EXPECT TO EXECUTE INST APCH PROCS. AS SUCH; THEY ARE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY PREPARED FOR THE APCH; OFTEN BEFORE THEY ARE TOLD TO EXPECT A PARTICULAR APCH. IN THIS SIT; WX WAS MARGINAL VISUAL CONDITIONS; SO I EXPECTED RADAR VECTORS TO OBTAIN A VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE ARPT AND EXECUTE A VISUAL APCH INTO AURORA. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A BAD ASSUMPTION ON MY PART; AND BETTER PREPAREDNESS WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THE SIT. WHEN I WAS CLRED FOR THE VOR 33 APCH; I NEEDED TIME TO SLOW THE ACFT; FIND THE APCH PROC CHART; CONFIGURE THE ACFT; DSND; SET UP THE RADIOS; AND INTERCEPT THE APCH COURSE. ALL THIS NEEDED TO HAPPEN WITHIN ABOUT 2 MINS. THE SOLUTION FOR THIS PROB MAY LIE WITH EARLIER NOTIFICATION OF THE TYPE OF APCH TO BE EXPECTED; EVEN WHEN IN VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. ADDITIONALLY; MORE TRAINING AND MORE TIME IN TYPE WILL ALLOW ME TO REACT IN A TIMELIER MANNER TO SUDDEN CHANGES IN FLT PLAN; SUCH AS THIS SIT. THE COMBINATION WILL AVOID SITS LIKE THIS AND CREATE A SAFER FLYING ENVIRONMENT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.