BE35 PLT HAD INST PROFICIENCY PROBS WHILE TRYING TO MAKE A LOW MINIMUMS APCH AT BSM.

Date: 2001-01 · Aircraft: Bonanza 35

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|inflight-event-encounter-unstabilized-approach|inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence|other-plt-instrument-proficiency

Synopsis

BE35 PLT HAD INST PROFICIENCY PROBS WHILE TRYING TO MAKE A LOW MINIMUMS APCH AT BSM.

Narrative

THE FLT IN QUESTION STARTED WELL ENOUGH. I DEPARTED HOUSTON GULF IN GOOD WX CONDITIONS. MY PREFLT WX BRIEFING FROM THE CONROE FSS INDICATED THAT THERE WAS A STATIONARY FRONT IN THE AUSTIN AREA; BRINGING LOW CEILINGS AND RAIN; BUT RADAR DATA SHOWED NOTHING THREATENING; AND THE TEMPS WERE FAR TOO WARM FOR ICE AT MY INTENDED ALT OF 6000 FT. THE FLT WENT SMOOTHLY UNTIL I INTERCEPTED THE LOC FOR THE ILS RWY 35R APCH TO AUSTIN BERGSTROM. THINGS STOPPED GOING RIGHT AT THIS STAGE. AS I JOINED THE LOC; THE GS REMAINED FLAGGED. I DOUBLECHKED THE FREQ DIALED IN; AND IDENTED THE NAVAID AGAIN. THE MORSE THAT CAME BACK WAS CORRECT -- EITHER MY GS RECEIVER HAD DIED OR THE GS ITSELF HAD DIED. SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THIS; I WAS HANDED OFF TO TWR; AND WHEN I CALLED TWR; I TOLD THE CTLR I WASN'T GETTING THE GS. JUST AS I WAS ABOUT TO CALL A MISSED APCH; THE CTLR TOLD ME TO MISS; AND DID SO. THE CTLR ASKED 2 OTHER ACFT (THE ONE IN FRONT OF ME AND THE FOLLOWING JET) WHETHER THEY WERE GETTING THE GS. THE PRECEDING JET SAID THERE WERE SOME DEVS; BUT IT WAS WORKING. THE FOLLOWING JET RPTED NO PROBS AT ALL. TWR ASKED IF I WANTED TO TRY RWY 35L; AND I SAID 'I'D LIKE TO DO THAT.' TWR ALSO SAID THAT THE GS WAS MONITORING JUST FINE; TOO. AS I FOLLOWED MY VECTORS; I WAS HANDED BACK TO APCH. IN MY MIND I WAS TRYING TO DEBUG WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE GS; AND FLY THE AIRPLANE; AND TALK TO APCH. I TUNED THE ILS FOR THE RWY 35L APCH IN ORDER TO TRY THAT NEXT; AS I HAD REQUESTED FROM TWR. AUS APCH VECTORED ME FOR THE APCH AGAIN. '2 MI FROM CREED; MAINTAIN 2500 FT UNTIL ESTABLISHED; CLRED ILS RWY 35;' HE SAID; WHICH I READ BACK WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT WHAT I HAD JUST BEEN CLRED TO DO. I WATCHED THE ILS NEEDLES WITH SOME TREPIDATION. THE GS UNFLAGGED; AND THE LOC NEEDLE WAS IN THE EXPECTED PLACE (STILL PEGGED AT THE L OF THE INST). THEN APCH SAID 'IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE INTERCEPTING THE RWY 35L LOC; DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT FREQ?' WHAAAA? I THOUGHT. MY INTENTION WAS TO FLY THE RWY 35L APCH. WHAT'S GOING ON? 'APCH; THAT'S AFFIRMATIVE; I'M DOING THE RWY 35L APCH.' 'OK; 2 MI FROM BOOIE; MAINTAIN 2500 FT UNTIL ESTABLISHED; CLRED FOR THE ILS RWY 35L APCH.' AS I INTERCEPTED THE LOC (AND OVERSHOT IT SLIGHTLY); I NOTICED THAT I HAD NEVER REDUCED THE PWR. I WAS STILL IN 'FAST JET IS FOLLOWING' MODE; SO AS I TURNED BACK TO TRY AND STAY ON THE LOC; I WAS HURTLING ALONG AT ABOUT 160 KTS OR SO; INSTEAD OF MY CUSTOMARY 100 KT ILS APCH SPD. NOW THAT WOULD BE OK IF I WAS EXPECTING TO FLY THE APCH FAST; BUT I WASN'T. MY MIND WAS IN 100 KT MODE. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE; THE GS WAS NOW COMING DOWN AND I WAS TRYING TO FOLLOW IT TOO. I REALIZED I WAS GOING TO HAVE A SPOT OF BOTHER SLOWING TO GEAR SPD. THE BONANZA LIKES TO EITHER SLOW DOWN OR GO DOWN; NOT BOTH! I STAYED A LITTLE HIGH ON THE GS AS I TRIED TO GET BELOW GEAR SPD. FINALLY; I COULD DROP THE WHEELS; BUT IN MY SPD FIXATION; HAD DRIFTED A LITTLE (ABOUT 2 DOTS) OFF THE LOC. FINALLY; AFTER WHAT SEEMED LIKE FRANTIC MANEUVERING AND ILS NEEDLES THAT LOOKED A BIT LIKE A SWORD FIGHT; I WAS BACK ON THE LOC AND GS; WITH THE WHEELS DOWN AND THE CHKLISTS COMPLETE. SECONDS LATER; I BROKE OUT; AND SAW A SIGHT I ALWAYS LOVE -- THE RWY LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE; RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME WHERE IT SHOULD BE. IT WASN'T VERY LONG UNTIL I WAS IN THE FLARE AND TOUCHING DOWN. SO WHAT WENT WRONG HERE? 1) FIXATION. FIRST; FIXATION ON THE INITIAL GS PROB; INSTEAD OF GETTING DOWN TO THE ACTUAL FLYING AND SLOWING THE PLANE FOR THE SECOND ATTEMPT. 2) MISCOM. NOTICE THAT THE APCH CTLR CLRED ME FOR RWY 35R WHEN I WANTED TO DO RWY 35L AS I HAD SAID TO THE TWR. I SHOULD HAVE TOLD THE APCH CTLR OF MY PLANS WHEN I CALLED UP. EVEN WORSE; I JUST READ BACK HIS APCH CLRNC FOR RWY 35R WITHOUT THINKING (BECAUSE I WAS FIXATED WITH MAKING SURE THE GS CAME ALIVE). IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY MY FAULT IF THIS HAD LED TO A LOSS OF SEPARATION. AS PIC; I'M THE CAPT; AND I'M RESPONSIBLE; BUT I LET THAT SLIP BY NOT THINKING ABOUT THE APCH CLRNC I HAD JUST BEEN GIVEN. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MYFAULT AND NOT ATC'S FAULT IS A LOSS OF SEPARATION -- OR WORSE; AN NMAC -- HAD OCCURRED. 3) THE SECOND APCH WASN'T REALLY STABILIZED. THE FIXATION DEMON HAPPENED AGAIN; AND I (SUCCESSFULLY) ATTEMPTED TO SALVAGE THE APCH. I SHOULD HAVE CALLED A MISS ON THE SECOND ONE; AND TRIED AGAIN; THIS TIME AT THE RIGHT SPD AND NO LONGER THINKING ABOUT THE ERRANT GS. I FEEL ABOUT THE ONLY THINGS I DID RIGHT ON THAT APCH WERE TO ACTUALLY TO REMEMBER TO PUT THE WHEELS DOWN AND ADVANCE THE PROP CTL! FORTUNATELY; THE FLT BACK HOME THAT NIGHT WENT PERFECTLY. I FEEL THE HEAD OF THE CHAIN OF EVENTS WAS SIMPLY FIXATION -- SOMETHING THAT'S DRUMMED INTO EVERY INST STUDENT AS A THING NOT TO DO. IT TAUGHT ME THAT YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR GUARD AT ALL TIMES; AND IT'S ANOTHER REMINDER THAT SINGLE PLT IFR IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULDN'T BE TAKEN LIGHTLY -- HOWEVER CURRENT YOU ARE AND HOWEVER OFTEN YOU FLY! ALSO; SOME OLD-TIMERS ONCE AGAIN ADMONISHED ME TO RUN A TIMER EVEN FOR AN ILS APCH -- IT WOULD HAVE GIVEN ME AN AUTOMATIC BACKUP OF DOING A LOC-ONLY APCH.

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