C182 PLT MISTAKENLY LANDS AT THE WRONG ARPT AT NIGHT.
Synopsis
C182 PLT MISTAKENLY LANDS AT THE WRONG ARPT AT NIGHT.
Narrative
I LEFT FROM APA ON AN IFR FLT PLAN TO OGDEN; UT. I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA AND I DID NOT HAVE MY STANDARD FLYING BAG. I WAS IN AN AIRPLANE THAT I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN BEFORE; A NEW C182T; AND I WAS FLYING WITH THE FACTORY REPRESENTATIVE. WHEN WE WERE ABOUT 20 MI FROM OGDEN; WE WENT INTO VMC. WE SAW THE LIGHTS OF THE CITY AND ATC GAVE US A VECTOR NNW OF THE CITY FOR THE VISUAL. WHEN WE WERE N OF THE ARPT; WE WERE GIVEN A 180 DEG TURN TO THE S; AND ASKED IF WE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. MY ACTUAL DEST OF OGDEN WAS JUST UNDER MY NOSE; SO I DID NOT SEE IT AND I MISTOOK HILL AFB FOR OGDEN. BECAUSE I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA; I DID NOT KNOW HILL AFB WAS SO CLOSE TO OGDEN (5 MI) APPROX. CTR TOLD US TO CANCEL WITH HIM OR ON THE GND; SO WE CANCELED AIRBORNE BECAUSE WE TOLD HIM WE HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT. OGDEN TWR WAS CLOSED SO WE XMITTED OUR POS ON THE CTAF AND I MONITORED THE AWOS/WX ON #2 RADIO WITH GUARD IN STANDBY. AFTER LNDG; I IMMEDIATELY REALIZED MY MISTAKE. THE CHAIN OF ERRORS WERE VERY SUBTLE AND I DID NOT REALIZE MY ERRORS UNTIL I BEGAN TO REFLECT ON THE INCIDENT THAT NIGHT. MY GREATEST ERROR WAS NOT HAVING MY STANDARD FLT KIT WITH ME; NOT DOING MY NORMAL IN-DEPTH PREFLT OF THE DEST FIELD; AND NOT SWITCHING 121.5 BACK ON THE #2 RADIO. I ALSO WISH ATC WOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT HILL WAS 12 O'CLOCK POS AND 5 MI AND OGDEN WAS 1200 FT POS AND 1 MI.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.