C172 INSTRUCTOR AND TRAINEE DSNDED BELOW PUBLISHED ALT ON THE NDB RWY 9L APCH AT SFB.

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WE WERE TURNED INBOUND ON THE NDB RWY 9L APCH WITH VECTORS TO THE FINAL APCH COURSE. WE WERE TURNED INBOUND TO INTERCEPT THE COURSE AND THEN TRACK THE COURSE INBOUND. WE WERE NOT GIVEN ANY DISTANCE INFO; NOR DID MY STUDENT HAVE VOR INFO TO DETERMINE HIS POS FROM THE SFB ARPT. IF WE HAD BEEN GIVEN DISTANCE INFO WE WOULD HAVE KNOWN NOT TO BEGIN OUR DSCNT. THERE WAS A SEQUENCE OF LIGHTS RESEMBLING SANFORD ARPT THAT LED ME TO BELIEVE WE WERE CLOSER THAN WE ACTUALLY WERE. ALSO; THE PLT CTLED LIGHTING AT SANFORD ARPT WAS NOT TURNED ON. IF WE WERE GIVEN DISTANCE INFO WHEN INITIALLY TURNED INBOUND; AND HAD THE LIGHTS AT SANFORD BEEN TURNED ON; THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. WHEN WE WERE TURNED INBOUND AND INTERCEPTED THE COURSE; I ADVISED STUDENT TO BEGIN A DSCNT TO GET US INTO SANFORD SINCE I HAD SEEN THE LIGHTS RESEMBLING SANFORD ARPT; AND BELIEVED US TO HAVE BEEN CLRED FOR THE APCH. AT 1200 FT; ORL APCH CLRED US FOR THE APCH AND REQUESTED OUR ALT. WE GAVE HIM OUR CURRENT ALT AND HE EXPLAINED THAT WE HAD NOT BEEN CLRED FOR A LOWER ALT AND NEEDED TO CLB BACK TO 2000 FT BEFORE BEGINNING APCH. WE DID SO AND CONTINUED APCH. WHEN WE ARRIVED AT SANFORD; THE APCH LIGHTING DID NOT WORK (PLT CTLED LIGHTING) SO WE HAD TO LAND ON A DARK RWY. SINCE WE WERE IN VMC THE ENTIRE APCH THERE WERE NO CONFLICTS TO SAFETY; HOWEVER; HAD THE APCH BEEN IN IMC THERE COULD HAVE BEEN. FOR THAT REASON IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE ATC CTLRS GIVE DISTANCE INFO WHENEVER TURNING A PLANE INBOUND ON THE APCH (ESPECIALLY NON PRECISION ON FIELD APCHS).