A C501 FLC CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 30L LANDS ON RWY 30R DURING A WRONG RWY APCH AND LNDG DURING A NIGHT OP AT SJC; CA.

2002-01 · NASA ASRS report 535040

Date: 2002-01 · Aircraft: Citation I/SP (C501) · Phase: landing

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|ground-incursion-runway|other-wrong-rwy-apch-lndg

Synopsis

A C501 FLC CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 30L LANDS ON RWY 30R DURING A WRONG RWY APCH AND LNDG DURING A NIGHT OP AT SJC; CA.

Narrative

AFTER FLYING FROM BUR-SAC AND DROPPING OFF PAX; MY COPLT AND I ELECTED TO RETURN TO SJC VFR. WE DSNDED OVER RHV AT 2500 FT FOR A R BASE ENTRY TO RWY 30L WITH ARPT IN SIGHT. NORMALLY; I USE RWY 29; BUT THIS TIME I WAS ALLOWING THE COPLT TO GET IN A NIGHT LNDG AND OPTED FOR THE LONGER RWY. WE WERE CLRED TO LAND RWY 30L; 2 1/2 MI OUT. (THIS WAS VERIFIED BY THE TAPE REVIEW IN THE TWR.) I WAS TALKING THE COPLT THROUGH THE PROC. HE HAD DONE AT LEAST 10 LNDGS PRIOR; BUT ONLY 1 AT NIGHT. CONFIRMED GEAR; FLAPS AND IGNITION DOWN AND ON. VERIFIED CHKLIST COMPLETE. I LOOKED UP MOMENTARILY TO VERIFY RWY ALIGNMENT AND TOLD HIM HE WAS SLIGHTLY R OF CTRLINE. I VERIFIED THE RWY WAS CLR AND WE CONTINUED TO A NORMAL LNDG AND ROLLOUT. I SAID 'GREAT JOB!' AS WE ROLLED DOWN THE RWY; I NOTICED THE SURROUNDINGS WEREN'T FAMILIAR. I HAVE FLOWN INTO SJC HUNDREDS OF TIMES OVER THE YRS. ATC THEN SAID 'DID YOU REALIZE YOU JUST LANDED ON THE R RWY?' WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER IN AMAZEMENT AS I RESPONDED 'NO; WE DIDN'T.' ATC CLRED US TO TAXI AND TO CALL TWR ON A LANDLINE. THE COPLT STARTED TO ASK QUESTIONS AND I TOLD HIM TO FOCUS ON OUR TAXI AND SHUTDOWN AT THE RAMP. UPON REFLECTION; I REALIZE THIS INCIDENT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED. THIS WAS A CLR VFR NIGHT FLYING INTO AN ARPT I'VE BEEN TO HUNDREDS OF TIMES. PRIOR TO LNDG; I DIALED IN THE LOC FREQ FOR RWY 30L TO GIVE THE COPLT VNAV REFS TO THE RWY BUT DIDN'T FOLLOW THROUGH BY DIALING IN COURSE HDG. WE WERE ALSO FOLLOWING A B737 AHEAD THAT WE LOST IN THE CITY LIGHTS AS WE TURNED FINAL. I LOOKED UP TO VERIFY IT WAS CLR PRIOR TO TOUCHDOWN AND NOTICED IT HAD CLRED THE RWY. (AS IT TURNS OUT HE HAD TAXIED CLR OF RWY 30L AND WAS TAXIING ACROSS RWY 30R AS I LOOKED UP.) I BELIEVE THE TOTAL FAULT LIES WITH ME. BY ALLOWING A TRAINING SIT TO ABSORB MY TOTAL CONCENTRATION; A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT COULD HAVE HAPPENED. FORTUNATELY THE RWY WAS CLR AND NO ACFT OR PERSONNEL WERE IN THE AREA; NO DANGER EXISTED. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDE MY NOT PICKING UP ON THE COMPLETE ATIS NOTIFYING ME THAT RWY 30R WAS OPEN. (EARLIER THIS RWY HAD BEEN CLOSED TO NIGHT OPS). EXPECTING THERE ONLY BEING RWY 29 AND RWY 30L OPEN; I TOLD THE COPLT TO STAY ON THE RIGHT RWY. I WAS TALKING THE PROCS TO THE COPLT NOT SPENDING ENOUGH TIME OUTSIDE. THE TWR WAS AT LEAST 2 MI AWAY AND DIDN'T NOTICE MY POS UNTIL I WAS ON THE GND. LET MY GUARD DOWN AFTER A LONG DAY OF FLYING AND GLAD TO BE HOME. IN THE FUTURE; THIS IS HOW I BELIEVE I CAN PREVENT ANOTHER OCCURRENCE: 1) TREAT EACH LNDG AS IF FLYING INTO AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT. 2) ALWAYS TUNE THE LOC FREQ AND DIAL IN COURSE HDG. 3) LISTEN TO ATIS COMPLETELY; EVEN AT THE HOME ARPT. 4) PUT INTO CHKLIST TO VERIFY VISUALLY AND AURALLY OUT INTENDED RWY IN PARALLEL RWY OPS. 5) KEEP MY HEAD OUTSIDE EVEN DURING TRAINING OPS. 6) SHARE EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER PLTS THAT AFTER 4000+ HRS AND 20 YRS OF FLYING IT CAN AND WILL BITE YOU IF YOU'RE COMPLACENT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 534915: HAVING BEEN BASED OUT OF SJC NEARLY THE ENTIRE YR OF 2000; I HAD GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO RWY 30R BEING UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND RWY 30L ACTUALLY BEING THE RWY ON THE R SIDE OF THE COMPLEX. WITH THE RELATIVELY DIM LIGHTS OF RWY 29 COMPARED TO THE OTHER RWYS; THE ARPT APPEARED TO HAVE 2 RWYS JUST LIKE BEFORE.

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

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