A DO328 CREW WHILE FLYING AN ILS AT PHL MISTOOK A ROAD FOR THE RWY CAUSING MUCH CONFUSION DURING THE LAST 600 FT OF THE APCH.

Narrative

FLT HAD BEEN CLRED FOR THE CONVERGING ILS RWY 35 AT PHL. WIND FROM E AT APPROX 5 KTS. DECISION HT WAS 600 FT AGL. CEILING FEW AT EITHER 600 OR 700 FT; VISIBILITY 2.5 MI; 2 MI REQUIRED FOR THE APCH. CLRED FOR THE APCH; CLRED TO LAND. HAD SOLID GND CONTACT EARLY IN THE APCH. FO MISSED A COUPLE OF APCH CALLS. AT 100 FT ABOVE MINIMUMS. I SAID 'ANYTHING?' HE REPLIED; 'WELL; I DON'T.' I CONTINUED ON THE APCH RIGHT ABOVE MINIMUMS; I LOOKED UP AND SAW WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE RWY; POINTED IT OUT TO THE FO AND CONTINUED. 5-10 SECONDS LATER IT BECAME APPARENT; THAT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE RWY WAS ACTUALLY A ROAD 1000 FT E OF THE RWY. RWY ALSO WAS IN SIGHT; I WAS A BIT HIGH (GS FULL SCALE); AND L (3/4 SCALE) BUT WAS ABLE TO LAND USING NORMAL MANEUVERS SO WE LANDED. THIS ALL HAPPENED VERY QUICK. FACTS: 1) FO'S UNEASINESS ABOUT WHAT WE SAW; LED ME TO LOOK ALSO. THIS IS DEV FROM STANDARD. PF IS INSIDE ALWAYS. THE FO WAS TALKING TO ME BUT NOT COMMUNICATING. I NEEDED 'NO CONTACT' OR 'CONTINUE' NOT 'UM.' REGARDLESS; I SHOULD BE MORE DISCIPLINED THAN TO LOOK UP. THAT'S HOW I LOST THE GS AND LOC. 2) ANOTHER FACTOR WAS THE APCH WAS 600 FT 2 DME; IN MY MIND NOT A 'LOW APCH. MENTALLY I HAD ONLY PREPARED TO LAND; THINKING WITH THOSE MINIMUMS; IT WOULD BE NO PROB; IT WAS MY RELUCTANCE TO BELIEVE THE FO HAD NO CONTACT. 3) I PICKED UP THE ROAD QUITE EASILY; EVEN THOUGH I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING. WITH THE WIND AS IT WERE; I THINK THE CTR POST OF THE WINDSHIELD BLOCKED THE RWY FROM MY VIEW. FOR SOME REASON THE FO COULDN'T SEE IT. THE GS/LOC DEV OCCURRED WHEN I VISUALLY MANEUVERED TO THE 'RWY;' IN THIS CASE A ROAD; WHICH WHERE I WAS COMING WAS FURTHER AWAY FROM US THAN THE ACTUAL RWY; WERE GOING HIGH ON THE GS. 4) WITH A 600 FT DECISION HT; A 3.0 DEG GS THAT PUTS US RIGHT AT 2 MI; THE ROAD AND RWY WERE HARD TO DISTINGUISH; ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE APCH LIGHTS WERE NOT ON. THE FIRST THING THAT CAUGHT MY EYE ON THE ACTUAL RWY WAS THE VASI; THE APCH LIGHTS WERE NOT ON. PERHAPS ATC GOT SUCKERED BY THE 2 MI VISIBILITY JUST LIKE I DID. 5) I KNEW IF WE MISSED WE HAD TO GO TO OUR ALTERNATE; MINOR BUT I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT. I STILL SAW WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE RWY AT A LEGAL POINT ON THE APCH; HOWEVER THIS MAY HAVE LED TO ME SEARCHING WITHOUT THE FO. 6) WE WERE COMING OFF A REDUCED REST OVERNIGHT; VERY SHORT. LESSONS: 1) AN IAP NEAR MINIMUMS SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE LIGHTS ON; I WILL NOW TRY TO BRIEF THIS. 2) I WILL ALWAYS FLY IAP'S AS IF I'M GOING TO MISS UNTIL I HEAR 'RWY IN SIGHT' FROM THE PNF. 3) AS A PROFESSIONAL; I KNOW I WILL SCREW UP FROM TIME TO TIME. IN ACTUALITY THE SAME THINGS THAT LED TO THIS; ALLOWED FOR A QUICK RECOVERY. ALSO AS A PROFESSIONAL; I MUST KNOW THAT THERE ARE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED HERE THAT MIGHT BE HARDER TO KNOW IF THIS HAPPENS IN A LOWER APCH. I HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO NOT BE THE GUY WHO SAYS 'WHAT WERE THESE IDIOTS DOING' BECAUSE AS I FOUND TODAY; ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE.