A BE58 SINGLE PLT FLYING CARGO BECAME OVERWHELMED BY THE ATL ENVIRONMENT AND LANDED ON THE WRONG RWY EVEN WHEN HE WAS WARNED BY THE TWR THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO MAKE SUCH AN ERROR.

Date: 2004-08 · Aircraft: Baron 58/58TC · Phase: approach

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

Synopsis

A BE58 SINGLE PLT FLYING CARGO BECAME OVERWHELMED BY THE ATL ENVIRONMENT AND LANDED ON THE WRONG RWY EVEN WHEN HE WAS WARNED BY THE TWR THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO MAKE SUCH AN ERROR.

Narrative

I WAS BEING VECTORED INTO THE ARR OF ATL ARPT BY APCH CTL ON A VFR FLT PLAN WITH FLT FOLLOWING FROM PNS. WAS ON THE FINAL VECTOR OF DUE N AFTER INFORMING APCH THAT I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT WHEN THE APCH CTLR GAVE ME A CLRNC; LESS THAN 3 MI; TO TURN DIRECTLY TO THE ARPT AND CONTACT TWR. WITH THE SEVERE HAZE AND SETTING SUN COMBINATION; I TURNED DIRECTLY TO THE RWY QUARTERING OFF MY NOSE THINKING THAT IT WAS RWY 26R. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE CONFUSION WITH ATL'S LAYOUT. THE TWR INFORMED ME; ON SHORT FINAL; THAT I WAS HDG TOWARDS THE WRONG RWY. I QUICKLY STEPPED OVER TO THE R; THINKING THAT THIS WAS RWY 26R; AND LANDED. I WAS NOT AWARE; UNTIL JUST AFTER MAKING THE STEPPING MANEUVER; THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER PLANE HOLDING ON THE RWY. I REALIZED THE SIT AND LANDED LONG TO CLR THE ACFT HOLDING ON THE RWY. I HAD RECEIVED NO FURTHER CLRNCS FROM THE TWR UNTIL AFTER LNDG AND PULLING OFF THE RWY; BEING INFORMED THAT I HAD LANDED ON THE WRONG RWY. THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS NEAR MISHAP ARE THE UNFAMILIARITY WITH THE ARPT; EVEN THOUGH I HAD CHKED OUT THE CURRENT ARPT FACILITY DIRECTORY. THERE WAS ALSO THE WAY IN WHICH APCH CTL HAD VECTORED ME INTO THE FLOW OF TFC. ANY OTHER ARPT I HAD BEEN VECTORED INTO IN MY FLYING CAREER HAS ALWAYS BEEN 6 OR 7 MI OUT AND THEN DIRECT TO THE RWY BEING AT MY 12 O'CLOCK POS TO ENSURE PROPER ALIGNMENT WITH THE ASSIGNED RWY. THE HAZE; AND HAVING THE SETTING SUN SHINE THROUGH THE HAZE; CAUSED A MAJOR IMPACT ON BEING ABLE TO CLRLY SEE THE ARPT AND KEEP THE COMPLETE LAYOUT OF THE ARPT VISIBLE. THERE WAS ALSO THE PROB OF THE HURRIED APCH WITH TOO MUCH TFC; AND TOO QUICK OF A PACE FOR BOTH MYSELF AND THE TWR. IN RETROSPECT; WITH THIS SIT; I HAD BEEN CLRED TO CROSS 3 APCH ENDS OF RWYS TO GET TO THE ASSIGNED RWY OF RWY 26R. ONCE GIVEN THE CALL TO TURN DIRECT TO RWY 26R; AND THAT THE TWR NOTED I WAS NOT HEADED TO THE CORRECT RWY; THE ONLY CALL I RECEIVED WAS 'YOU ARE HEADED FOR THE WRONG RWY.' NO FURTHER CALLS WERE MADE UNTIL I TOUCHED DOWN ON RWY 26L. THERE WAS ALSO THE STRESS OF THE NUMBER OF WX ISSUES FLOWN THIS DAY AND THE CONCERN WITH THE ANTICIPATED DEPARTURE BACK TO JACKSONVILLE AND THE HURRICANE THAT WAS DUE THERE. IN RETROSPECT TO THIS SITUATION I WOULD; IN THE FUTURE; GET A LARGER DIAGRAM OF AN UNFAMILIAR AIRPORT; ESPECIALLY WITH MULTIPLE PARALLEL RWYS; TUNE IN THE APCH FREQ TO THE LOCALIZER FOR THAT RWY; AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT THE APCH CTL AND TWR DO VFR APCH'S FURTHER OUT; INSURING THAT THE PROPER RWY ALIGNMENT IS MADE AND MAINTAINED TO THE FIELD. ALSO; IN THE FUTURE; REGARDLESS OF THE BUSINESS OF THE AIRPORT I WOULD INITIATE A GAR AND SORT OUT THE PROBLEM. THE APCH CTLR; WITH THE NUMBER OF PLANES ARRIVING ATL; AND THE TWR SHOULD INSURE THAT PROPER ALIGNMENT OF THE RWY IS ASSURED IN AMPLE DISTANCE FROM THE ARPT. THE PACE OF THE ARRIVALS SHOULD BE SLOWED DOWN TO ALLOW SAFETY OF ARRS WITH ADEQUATE SPACING. VFR ACFT; ARRIVING ALONG WITH SCHEDULED AIRLINES; SHOULD BE ROUTED SO AS TO ALLOW A MORE PRACTICAL ARR OF THE ACFT; NOT JUST JUMPING IN LINE ON SHORT FINAL.

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