A320 FLT CREW REQUIRED TO EXECUTE 3 GAR'S DUE TO N90 AND JFK LCL CTLR ASSUMPTIONS AND FAILURE TO ENSURE RWY ASSIGNMENT AT JFK ARPT; INCLUDING A FLT CREW LOC OVERSHOOT.

Narrative

ON ARR INTO APCH CTL AIRSPACE AT JFK; WE HAD SET UP THE FMGS FOR ILS RWY 4R. WE WERE THEN TOLD TO EXPECT ILS RWY 4L. I SET UP THE FMGS AND BRIEFED RWY 4L TO THE FO WHO WAS FLYING. WE WERE CLRED FOR THE APCH FOR ILS RWY 4L. THE FO CAPTURED THE LOC BUT MISSED THE GS; WE WERE ON A 5 MI FINAL. I TOOK CTL OF THE ACFT TO FLY THE APCH AND RECAPTURED THE GS. THE ACFT WAS FULLY STABILIZED AND ON SPD BY 1000 FT AGL; AS PER COMPANY POLICY. ON BREAKING OUT AT 900 FT AGL; I HEARD ACR Y CLRED FOR TKOF RWY 4L. I SAW A B747 PULL OUT ONTO RWY 4L. IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT WE WERE NOT GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH SEPARATION. I TOLD THE FO TO ASK THE TWR FOR MISSED APCH INSTRUCTION; AS PARALLEL RWY OPS WERE IN EFFECT AND THE PUBLISHED MISSED WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED. THE FO RELAYED THE INFO AND THE TWR IMMEDIATELY TOLD ACR Y TO ABORT; WHICH THEY DID. WE WERE GIVEN A HEADING AND CLB AND TOLD TO GO MISSED. WE INITIATED SOFT GAR TO 2000 FT. I SPOKE TO THE PAX EXPLAINING THAT THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH SPACE BTWN THE TFC DEPARTING AND US LNDG. ATC TOLD US THEY WOULD GIVE US A SHORT VECTOR BACK IN FOR ANOTHER APCH. I XFERRED CTL TO THE FO WHILE I RAN THE CHKLISTS AND RECYCLED THE APCH FOR ILS RWY 4L. WE HAD BEEN VERY BUSY IN THE COCKPIT. WE WERE GIVEN A FREQ CHANGE TO THE NEXT CTLR. THAT CTLR GAVE US VECTOR FOR A SECOND APCH AND WE WERE TOLD TO JOIN THE LOC. WE WERE CLRED FOR THE APCH (NO RWY WAS MENTIONED). WE PRESUMED THAT THE VECTORS WERE BACK TO RWY 4L; AS NO MENTION OF RWY 4R WAS MADE. WE WERE AT 2000 FT AND I SAW WE WERE GOING TO BE HIGH ON THE GS. ATC WAS VERY BUSY WITH A LOT OF TIGHT SPACING BTWN ACFT. I ASKED FOR LOWER AND WAS QUICKLY GIVEN 1500 FT. THIS TIME THE FO FORGOT TO PUSH THE APCH BUTTON; SO I REACHED UP AND PUSHED IT AS WE CROSSED THE LOC TO RWY 4L. THE AUTOPLT TURNED US BACK TOWARDS THE LOC JUST AS THE CTLR TOLD US TO FLY 060 DEGS TO JOIN THE LOC AGAIN. WE INTERCEPTED RWY 4L; GOT CONFIGURED AND STARTED DOWN. ON PASSING THE FINAL APCH FIX; WE WERE STILL ON APCH FREQ. I ASKED FOR 'ACR XXX TO TWR FOR RWY 4L?' THE APCH CTLR; WITH SURPRISE; ASKED US IF WE WERE STILL WITH HIM; WHICH I REPLIED AFFIRMATIVE. HE TOLD US THERE WAS TFC RIGHT BEHIND US AND WE SHOULD MAKE AN IMMEDIATE R TURN TO 090 DEGS. SEEING THE OTHER ACFT BEHIND US ON TCASII; I TOOK CTL; DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT; TURNED TO 090 DEGS AT 30 DEG BANK ANGLE. WE WERE THEN TOLD TO PICK UP THE SPD. WE APPLIED TOGA MAX PWR. WE CLBED TO 10000 FT. APCH WAS SO BUSY TELLING OTHER ACFT TO BREAK OFF THEIR APCHS TO RWY 4R (WHICH WE WERE NOW ABOUT TO CROSS); WE WERE NOT ABLE TO GET AN ALT ASSIGNMENT OR CONFIRMATION. I CLBED TO 1500 FT AND EVENTUALLY; WE WERE TOLD TO CLB TO 2000 FT. WE NOTIFIED THE PAX THAT THIS TIME AN ACFT BEHIND US WAS TOO CLOSE. WE WERE VECTORED FOR ANOTHER APCH. I OPTED TO FLY THE APCH THIS TIME. AS WE APCHED THE LOC COURSE FOR ILS RWY 4L; ABOUT 3/4 NM FROM LOC; WE WERE CLRED FOR ILS RWY 4L. I TOLD FO WE COULD NOT ACCEPT RWY 4R; AS WE HAD SET UP FOR THE ILS RWY 4L. ATC VECTORED US AROUND AGAIN FOR A 3RD MISSED APCH. THE 4TH APCH WAS TO RWY 4L AND WE LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I CALLED THE TWR SUPVR TO FIND OUT IF WE HAD DONE ANYTHING WRONG. IT BECAME CLR THAT ATC HAD EXPECTED THE 1ST APCH TO RWY 4L AND THAT THEY HAD MADE A MISTAKE BY CLRING ACR Y FOR TKOF. THEY THEN LOGGED US AS SHOOTING THE NEXT 2 APCHS TO ILS RWY 4R. THE PROB BEING NO ONE INFORMED US OF THE RWY CHANGE. THE 2ND APCH CLRNC DID NOT INCLUDE A RWY ASSIGNMENT. NORMALLY I WOULD HAVE READ BACK THE CLRNC AND ADDED THE RWY NUMBER IF THE CTLR DID NOT MENTION IT; BUT DUE TO THE FO FORGETTING TO ACTIVATE THE APCH; I WANTED TO GET OFF THE RADIO TO TELL HIM THAT HE HAD MISSED THE APCH BUTTON AND WAS STILL ON HEADING. SO I READ BACK THE ABBREVIATED JOIN THE LOC CLRED FOR THE APCH. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE FREQ CONGESTION CAUSED BY OUR FIRST MISSED APCH; COUPLED WITH THE PRESSURE OF EXECUTING A MISSED WITH NO RESPONSE TO OUR ALT REQUEST AND THE NEED TO RUN CHKLISTS; TALK TO THE PAX; AND SET UP FOR THE NEXT APCH; AND RECEIVING A BADVECTOR AND AN ALT WHICH WOULD HAVE BROUGHT US HIGH ON THE GS FOR RWY 4L. THE FO WAS NEW; WITH 3 MONTHS IN THE AIRPLANE. WE WERE AT THE END OF AN 8 HR FLT DAY AND HAD BEEN AWAKE SINCE XA00 AM; WHICH WAS A 12 1/2 HR DAY. WE DID NOT FEEL TIRED AND FOLLOWED ALL THE SOP'S IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER. RWY 4L IS 3000 FT FROM 4R; SO IT IS DIFFICULT TO SEE IF ANOTHER ACFT IS SHOOTING AN APCH TO YOU OR THE PARALLEL RWY ON TCASII. THE ACFT BEHIND US WAS FASTER THAN US AND DID NOT REALIZE THAT WE WERE ONLY 1 SM OR LESS IN FRONT OF THEM ON THEIR TCASII. HE WAS TALKING TO TWR AND THE APCH CTLR WAS NOT ABLE TO TALK TO HIM TO TELL HIM. WHILE THE ACFT BEHIND US WAS VIEWING US ON THEIR TCASII DISPLAY ON FRONT MODE; THEY HAD HIGHER RESOLUTION IN STATUTE MI THAN WE HAD VIEWING THEM ON OUR FRONT MODE DISPLAY. WE DID NOT RECEIVE A TCASII TFC OR RA ALERT. OUR SPD WAS 140 KTS. I ESTIMATE THE ACFT BEHIND US WAS 30 KTS FASTER.