2004-01 · NASA ASRS report 604391
SF-34 CREW LANDED AT THE WRONG ARPT IN VMC.
I WAS PIC FOR FLT TO SCE; PA. FAMILIARIZING MYSELF WITH THE ARPT; I FIGURED I WOULD BE CLRED TO PSB AND VECTORED TO THE ARPT. INSTEAD; MY CLRNC WAS TO TON (TYRONE); THEN DIRECT SCE. I WAS THE PNF FOR THIS LEG. AFTER REACHING TON; ZNY ADVISED US TO EXPECT THE VISUAL APCH INTO RWY 6 AND TO FLY DIRECT TO THE ARPT. I INFORMED ZNY THAT WE WERE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE ROUTING AND ASKED IF OUR HDG LOOKED GOOD FOR STATE COLLEGE. WAS INFORMED THE ARPT WAS 12 O'CLOCK POS AHEAD. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; AN ARPT WAS IN VIEW BTWN 11-12 O'CLOCK POS WITH A SIMILAR LAYOUT. I ASKED CTR TO CONFIRM THE ARPT AT APPROX 11 - 11:30 O'CLOCK POS AHEAD WAS INDEED STATE COLLEGE. I WAS INFORMED THE STATE COLLEGE WAS AT 11 O'CLOCK POS (LATER INFORMED FROM ATC THAT THEY HAD TOLD ME IT WAS ALSO 20 NM OUT BUT I APPARENTLY MISSED THAT IN THE CONFIRMATION AT THE TIME.) AT THIS SAME TIME; I WAS NAVING; COMMUNICATING AND VISUALLY SEARCHING OUTSIDE THE ACFT FOR THE ARPT WHILE MY FO WAS THE PF. THE FO HAD TURNED THE AUTOPLT OFF AND WAS HAND FLYING; AT WHICH TIME I NOTICED THAT SHE HAD BEGUN TO DSND TO THE ARPT AHEAD LEAVING THE LAST ASSIGNED ALT OF 5000 FT. I QUICKLY STATED TO THE FO THAT WE HADN'T BEEN CLRED FOR THE APCH; BUT SEEING THAT WE WERE STILL WELL ABOVE MSA; I IMMEDIATELY RADIOED CTR IF CLRED FOR THE VISUAL; WHICH ATC STATED CLRED FOR THE VISUAL AND FREQ CHANGE APPROVED. AT THE HT AND PRESENT ANGLE TO THE ARPT; I COULD SEE THAT THE RWY AHEAD WAS A RWY 6 WITH AN INTERSECTING RWY MID FIELD (AS PER STATE COLLEGE'S LAYOUT) BUT THE COMPLETE ARPT LAYOUT VIEW WAS OBSCURED. I MADE ALL THE STANDARD CTAF CALLS WHILE THE FO MADE THE APCH AND LNDG. IMMEDIATELY AFTER TOUCHDOWN THE ARPT LAYOUT MADE IT CLR THAT IT DIDN'T MATCH THE LAYOUT FOR STATE COLLEGE. I TAXIED CLR OF THE RWY AND RADIOED CTR THAT WE HAD LANDED AT THE WRONG ARPT AND THAT I WAS GOING TO BE IN TOUCH WITH MY COMPANY DISPATCH AND WOULD BE BACK IN CONTACT WITH THEM SHORTLY. I HAVE BEEN A PIC NOW FOR JUST OVER A FEW MONTHS AND HAVE LEARNED A VALUABLE LESSON. EVEN THOUGH THE WX WAS VFR; I MUST KEEP AN EVER CLOSE EYE ON WHAT MY FO IS DOING AND THE ACFT POS AS ASSIGNED. AND WHEN AT AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT; SHOOTING A VISUAL APCH TO LNDG WITH NO INST APCH FACILITY TO IDENT; DON'T LAND UNTIL I CAN 100% VISUALLY IDENT THE ARPT AND NOT RELY MERELY ON SAME RWY NUMBERS AND GENERIC RPTED ARPT LOCATION AHEAD FROM ATC. AS PIC; THE RESPONSIBILITY IS MINE AND AS AN ATP RATED PLT I SHOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED THESE EVENTS TO DEVELOP AND WILL BE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE SO THEY WILL NOT OCCUR AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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