C172 STUDENT PLT LINED UP ON HVN INSTEAD OF HIS INTENDED POINT OF LNDG BDR. THE PLT EXCUSED HIMSELF AFTER HE SAW THE ERROR; AND PROCEEDED TO BDR.

Narrative

STUDENT WAS ON INBOUND LEG OF XCOUNTRY SOLO; DEST BDR (SIKORSKY; BRIDGEPORT; CT). DESPITE MONITORING VISUAL CHKPOINTS; INADVERTENTLY DEVIATED FROM COURSE AND APCHED TWEED-NEW HAVEN (HVN). CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: BOTH HVN AND BDR ARE ON LONG ISLAND SOUND; SIMILARLY SITUATED S OF MODERATELY SIZED CITIES AND S OF A MAJOR HWY (I-95). BOTH ARPTS HAVE 2 XING RWYS (DIFFERENTLY CONFIGURED; OF COURSE). STUDENT PLT RECOGNIZED RWY CONFIGN AS DIFFERENT FROM BDR. ON THIS REALIZATION; THE PLT INSTANTLY RECOGNIZED VARIOUS LANDMARKS AROUND NEW HAVEN; WITH WHICH HE WAS FAMILIAR. NO CONFLICT WAS PRESENT AND NO EVASIVE ACTION WAS NECESSARY AT ANY TIME. THE STUDENT PLT LEFT THE PATTERN AT HVN; TAKING CARE AS ALWAYS TO FULFILL THE VFR OBLIGATION TO 'SEE AND AVOID' OTHER ACFT. PLT RPTED THE ERROR TO BDR TWR (IN CONTINUOUS RADIO CONTACT). THEN; PLT CONTACTED HVN TWR TO RPT THE ERROR AND APOLOGIZE. HVN TWR MENTIONED THAT THERE WERE OTHER ACFT IN THE PATTERN. PLT ACKNOWLEDGED THIS AND AGAIN APOLOGIZED. PLT THEN PROCEEDED W TO BDR. BDR TWR WAS THEN CONTACTED; REMAINDER OF TRIP; INCLUDING LNDG AT BDR AND HOME TO WESTCHESTER COUNTY/HPN WAS UNEVENTFUL. CONDITIONS WERE AS CAVU AS CAVU GETS. THE STUDENT COULD CLRLY SEE THE WRONG CITY (NEW HAVEN) AND WRONG ARPT (HVN) FROM AT LEAST 20 MI AWAY; AND BECAME CONVINCED THEY WERE BRIDGEPORT AND BDR. THE STUDENT PLT'S MIND BEGAN IGNORING VARIOUS PIECES OF EVIDENCE THAT WERE INCONSISTENT WITH AN APCH TO BDR. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR MAY HAVE BEEN A STRONG DESIRE TO COMPLETE A SUCCESSFUL XCOUNTRY TRIP. DESPITE THE SIMILARITIES OF BDR AND HVN; THE FOLLOWING DIFFERENCES (DECISIVE; OF COURSE) WERE DISREGARDED: VOR TUNED TO BDR SHOWED PROGRESSIVE DEV FROM COURSE. BDR TWR RPTED NO VISUAL OR RADAR IDENT OF THE ACFT AFTER INITIAL RADIO CONTACT. MISSING FROM HVN WAS A 'CANDY STRIPE' SMOKESTACK NEAR THE FIELD AND OTHER FEATURES CHARACTERISTIC OF BDR. THE HVN RWYS ARE ALIGNED DIFFERENTLY FROM BDR. ALTHOUGH THE STUDENT PLT EVENTUALLY RECOGNIZED THIS; HIS INITIAL THOUGHT WAS THAT THE MAGNETIC COMPASS MIGHT HAVE BEEN INACCURATE ON DSCNT; AND THAT THE MAGNETIC HEADING INDICATOR MAY HAVE PRECESSED. IF YOUR INTENDED TWR DOESN'T HAVE VISUAL OR RADAR CONTACT; RECONSIDER YOUR POS! DON'T LET PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE FLYING ENVIRONMENT (POS) BECOME SO ENTRENCHED THAT EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY IS IGNORED. BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL IN DISCOUNTING OR EXPLAINING AWAY INFO (VISUAL; INST; COMS FROM ATC) INCONSISTENT WITH PERCEIVED POS.