C182 PLT LANDED ON THE WRONG RWY AT FCM.

Date: 2001-05

Anomalies: deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|ground-incursion-runway|other-plt-not-mentally-present

Synopsis

C182 PLT LANDED ON THE WRONG RWY AT FCM.

Narrative

FIRST OF ALL; I AM NOT MUCH OF A MORNING PERSON; MUCH LESS A MONDAY MORNING PERSON. I WAS FEELING TIRED FROM A BUSY WKEND WHEN I STARTED THE DAY. LITTLE MENTAL WARM-UP BEFORE FLYING. WX DICTATED GOING EASY IFR; BUT GOT A LATE START AND ENCOUNTERED HEADWINDS. TRIP LENGTH IS ABOUT 2 HRS; ALL AT 4000 FT IN HAZY CONDITIONS BTWN LAYERS; AUTOPLT TRACKING THE GPS FOR THE MOST PART. BECAME VERY DROWSY ENRTE. HEARD AND MADE FREQ CHANGES OK; BUT TURNED OFF AUTOPLT TRACKING AND BEGAN USING HDG BUG FOR SOMETHING TO DO AND TRACK A MORE ACCURATE COURSE. MSP APCH ASKED ME IF I HAD AN APCH PREFERENCE. I HAD NONE; AS I THOUGHT THE VISUAL WOULD BE APPROPRIATE CONSIDERING IT WAS VIRTUALLY CLR. HOWEVER; SINCE THE LAST RPT WAS A 1500 FT CEILING; WE PROCEEDED WITH AN APCH. HE GAVE ME THE VOR/DME RWY 36 APCH SINCE IT WAS LINED UP WITH MY RTE BEST (FROM SE) AND WOULD ENABLE A CIRCLE-TO-LAND VISUAL. I WAS TOLD TO EXPECT TO CIRCLE FOR RWY 9R AT FLYING CLOUD AND I READ THAT BACK. I THEN OBTAINED ATIS INFO. WINDS WERE RPTED AS 140 DEGS AT 10-15 KTS. I THOUGHT ABOUT REQUESTING LNDG RWY 18 SINCE THE WINDS FAVORED THAT OVER RWY 9; BUT DECIDED NOT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES IN THAT. I FLEW THE APCH AND IDENTED THE ARPT ABOUT 4 MI OUT. I REQUESTED A LNDG ON RWY 9L. TWR APPROVED THIS; AND I CONFIRMED THAT I WAS CLR TO LAND RWY 9L. TWR ASKED FOR A RPT 2 MI OUT. AT 2 MI OUT; I RPTED '2 MI SSE FOR THE VISUAL RWY 9L.' TWR CONFIRMED AND I READ BACK THAT I WAS CLR TO LAND RWY 9L. WHILE INBOUND ON THE APCH; I HAD DONE A LITTLE SIGHTSEEING OF A CASINO AND AN AMUSEMENT PARK WHICH ARE NEAR THE ARPT ON THE APCH PATH. ALL ALONG; SINCE COMMUNICATING WITH THE TWR ABOUT RWY 9R AND THE CHANGED TO RWY 9L; I HAD IN FACT BEEN VISUALIZING THE APCH TO RWY 27L; BUT WAS NOT REALIZING IT WAS NOT RWY 9. I WAS INTENT ON LNDG RWY 27L TO EXPEDITE TAXIING TO MEET WITH MY ALREADY LATE APPOINTMENT. RWY 27L IS CLOSER TO THE GND DEST THAN IS RWY 27R; WHICH I HAD IN MIND THAT I HAD BEEN TOLD TO LAND ON. THIS MAY BE PARTLY DUE TO LNDG ON ONE OR THE OTHER OF THESE 2 RWYS IN NEARLY ALL THE MANY PREVIOUS OCCASIONS TO FLY INTO FLYING CLOUD. E WINDS ARE SOMEWHAT RARE. AS I TURNED L BASE TO FINAL; I COULD FEEL THAT GND SPD WAS HIGHER THAN AIRSPD; THE GPS CONFIRMED THIS BY READING 75 KTS WHILE INDICATED AIRSPACE WAS 60 KIAS. I WONDERED WHY THEY WOULD NOT HAVE US LAND INTO THE WIND. I STEEPENED THE APCH AND NOTICED THE WINDSOCK FAIRLY STIFF POINTING OPPOSITE MY LNDG DIRECTION. WHILE IN THE MIDST OF DOUBTING THE TWR'S WISDOM IN DIRECTING A DOWNWIND LNDG; I SUDDENLY REALIZED IT WAS I WHO WAS WRONG; I WAS LNDG ON RWY 27L INSTEAD OF RWY 9L. AS I WAS IN THE BEGINNING OF THE ROUND-OUT AND FLARE; I WENT AHEAD AND COMPLETED THE LNDG SINCE THERE WAS NO APPARENT TFC CONFLICT. DURING ROLLOUT; I LET THE TWR KNOW THAT IT WAS MY ERROR BEING WHERE I WAS. TWR WAS WORKING GND AS WELL AND ASKED THAT I CALL AFTER SHUTDOWN. I DID THIS; AND HE CONFIRMED THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC AT THE TIME IN THE AREA EITHER IN THE AIR OR ON THE GND. I GAVE HIM MY PITIFUL EXCUSE OF SIMPLY 'BEING OUT OF IT.' I SPECULATE THAT IF THERE HAD BEEN OTHER TFC; I WOULD HAVE BEEN ALERT FOR IT AND WOULD PERHAPS HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT GETTING IN WITH THE FLOW RATHER THAN ON MY OWN TIME IMPERATIVES. COMMENTS: THIS WAS A GENUINE 'DUH -- OH.' CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: DROWSINESS/BOREDOM. SHOULD HAVE TURNED OFF AUTOPLT TO GIVE MORE TO DO. SHOULD HAVE INCREASED FRESH AIR (TEMP HAD GONE UP AFTER PASSING THROUGH WEAK FRONT). I CAN'T SAY THAT THE ATTEMPT TO SAVE TIME REALLY CAUSED THE PROB -- AS HAD I REALIZED WHAT I NEEDED/WAS TOLD TO DO; RWY 9R WOULD HAVE BEEN FAVORABLE TO MY EXPEDIENCY. I CAN SEE THAT DESPITE ACKNOWLEDGING IT ONCE; I DID NOT CLRLY VISUALIZE THE WIND DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE PROPER RWY TO USE. I LET ROUTINE TAKE OVER. DYSLEXIA? I'VE ALWAYS HAD TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT RECIPROCAL NUMBERS IN NAV AND RWY USE. I HAVE NO 'SYS' TO ASSURE LNDG ON THE PROPER RWY (IE; USE THE APCH PLATE FOR THE RWY TO BE USED). I FLY VERY FREQUENTLY TO A VARIETY OF ARPTS; AND IF IAM FAMILIAR WITH THEM; SUCH AS THIS; I DON'T STUDY THE ARPT LAYOUT. MOSTLY I DON'T SEE WHAT I CAN DO DIFFERENTLY WHICH WOULD HAVE AVERTED THIS INCIDENT; BUT TRY TO BE MORE AWARE OF MY OWN DECREASED PERFORMANCE WHEN FEELING A BIT 'OUT OF IT' AND BE EXTRA CAREFUL TO ENSURE I AM DOING THE RIGHT THING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME.

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