PA28 PLT LANDS ON WRONG RWY AT DPA.

Date: 2002-10 · Aircraft: PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior · Phase: landing

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|ground-incursion-runway

Synopsis

PA28 PLT LANDS ON WRONG RWY AT DPA.

Narrative

THE INCIDENT OCCURRED ON OCT/SUN/02 AT APPROX XA00. FLT CONDITIONS WERE NIGHT VMC WITH VISIBILITY +6 SM. APCHING THE ARPT FROM THE NE; I WAS CLRED FOR A VFR LNDG AT DPA ON RWY 33. I HAD LIMITED EXPERIENCE IN OPS AT THIS ARPT AND HAD ONLY MADE 3 NIGHT LNDGS AT DPA; ALL USING RWY 10. THE CTLR CLRED ME FOR A R TURN TO FINAL FOR RWY 33. WHILE MAKING THE TURN TO FINAL; I SAW HIGH INTENSITY RWY LIGHTING. I WRONGLY ASSUMED THESE TO BE THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 33. THE HIRL FOR RWY 28 WERE VERY PROMINENT AND DID NOT NOTICE THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 33 (MIRL). I DID NOT CHK MY HDG INDICATOR WHILE LINED UP FOR THE LNDG. HAD I CHKED THIS; I WOULD HAVE DISCOVERED THE ERROR IN TIME TO LAND ON THE CLRED RWY. THE RWY THRESHOLDS FOR THESE 2 RWYS ARE VERY CLOSE TO EACH OTHER (FORMING A V-SHAPE). XING THE RWY THRESHOLD; I SAW THE NUMBERS FOR THE RWY (RWY 28). I PROCEEDED WITH A NORMAL LNDG AND IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED THE TWR OF MY MISTAKE. NO OTHER TFC WAS AFFECTED AND GND CTL CLRED ME FOR A NORMAL TAXI TO THE N RAMP. THE PROB AROSE DUE TO THE PLT'S UNFAMILIARITY WITH THE ARPT (ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT) AND THE FAILURE TO USE THE HDG INDICATOR TO CONFIRM FLT PATH TO THE CLRED RWY. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE LEVEL OF LIGHTING OF THE 2 RWYS. THE MISTAKE WAS DISCOVERED WHEN THE ACFT CROSSED THE RWY THRESHOLD. THE CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN BY THE PLT IS TO BE BETTER PREPARED WHEN LNDG AT UNFAMILIAR ARPTS AND CONCENTRATE ON IMPROVING INST SCANNING TECHNIQUES.

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