WRONG ARPT APCH TO FMY; PAGE FIELD; AFTER AN MD80 IS GIVEN A VISUAL CLRNC TO RWY 24 AT RSW; FL.

Date: 2004-03 · Aircraft: MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model · Phase: descent

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-wrong-arpt-apch

Synopsis

WRONG ARPT APCH TO FMY; PAGE FIELD; AFTER AN MD80 IS GIVEN A VISUAL CLRNC TO RWY 24 AT RSW; FL.

Narrative

WE WERE VECTORED TO THE DOWNWIND TO RWY 24 AT RSW. ORIGINALLY PLANNED RWY 6. NAVAIDS WERE SET UP FOR THE VOR RWY 24 AT RSW. PF CALLED ARPT IN SIGHT AND I (PM) CALLED THE ARPT IN SIGHT TO APCH. THEY CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL APCH AND SENT US TO TWR. I CONTACTED RSW TWR AND THEY CLRED US TO LAND RWY 24. UNTIL ROLLING OUT ON FINAL I DID NOT HAVE THE ARPT OR RWY IN SIGHT AND WAS RELYING ON THE PF'S IDENT. AS WE TURNED FINAL I WAS OCCUPIED WITH CONFIGURING THE ACFT; CONTACTING TWR AND LOOKING FOR THE FIELD. ONCE ON FINAL I CONCENTRATED ON VERIFYING A NORMAL GLIDEPATH (USING DME); AND COMPLETING THE LNDG CHKLIST. HOWEVER; I FAILED TO VERIFY ANY OTHER NAVAIDS TO DETERMINE THE PROPER FINAL APCH WAS BEING FLOWN. LIGHT HAZE AND HDG TOWARD THE SUN MADE IDENT OF ARPT FEATURES MORE DIFFICULT. AFTER ABOUT 30 SECONDS ON FINAL RSW TWR DIRECTED A GAR AND ADVISED US THAT WE HAD FLOWN FINAL TO THE WRONG ARPT (PAGE MUNI) AND VECTORED US TO RSW. AFTER LNDG; I CONTACTED RSW APCH/TWR AND THEY SAID THERE WOULD BE NO PROB WITH ATC/FAA AND THAT THIS WAS A COMMON OCCURRENCE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 622277: WE WERE CLRED TO 3000 FT AND AN EASTERLY HDG IN ANTICIPATION OF A VISUAL APCH TO RSW. APCH CTL CALLED THE ARPT AT OUR 3 O'CLOCK POS. AS WE DSNDED BELOW THE CLOUDS; I SAW AN ARPT AT OUR 3 O'CLOCK POS AND CALLED THE FIELD IN SIGHT. APCH CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL. HE TOLD US TO CONTACT TWR. I THOUGHT WE WERE KIND OF 'HIGH AND TIGHT;' BUT DID NOT REMARK ABOUT IT. WE BEGAN TO SLOW AND CONFIGURE ON SPD IN ANTICIPATION OF THE BASE LEG TURN. THE VISUAL APCH WAS COMING ALONG NICELY AS TO VISUAL APCH STANDARDS. THE TWR CLRED US TO LAND WITH A WIND CHK. AT 1200 FT SHE ADVISED US THAT WE WERE APCHING THE WRONG ARPT AND ASSIGNED US A HDG OF 120 DEGS AND AN ALT OF 1500 FT. I ADDED PWR AND CALLED FOR FLAPS 15 DEGS AS WE TURNED TO THE SE. SHE IMMEDIATELY RECLRED US TO LAND ON RWY 24. SHE TOLD/ASKED US THAT WE WERE 'TOURING DOWNTOWN' AS AN EXPLANATION FOR OUR DEV. OUR DIAGRAM PAGE CONTAINS NO INFO REGARDING THE OTHER ARPT (PAGE 'FMY'). I WAS PRETTY SHAKEN AS TO WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED AND WAS VERY GLAD TO HAVE HAD AN UNDERSTANDING; HELPFUL CTLR.

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