DURING A MIX UP WITH SIMILAR SOUNDING FLT NUMBERS BY A DEVELOPMENTAL CTLR AN MD11 CARGO FLT CREW IS ACCUSED OF LNDG WITHOUT CLRNC BY SUPVR CTLR AT GOOY.
Synopsis
DURING A MIX UP WITH SIMILAR SOUNDING FLT NUMBERS BY A DEVELOPMENTAL CTLR AN MD11 CARGO FLT CREW IS ACCUSED OF LNDG WITHOUT CLRNC BY SUPVR CTLR AT GOOY.
Narrative
WHILE ON APCH INTO GOOY ACR ABXX WAS CLRED FOR THE VOR/DME ILS RWY 36 FROM APCH ABOUT 80 MI OUT ON THE SLO 2V ARR. DSNDING THROUGH ABOUT FL80 WE WERE CONFIRMED CLRED (BY TWR) FOR THE VOR DME ILS RWY 36 AND ADVISED TO ADVISE TWR JOINING THE LOC INBOUND. ABOUT THAT TIME DAKAR TWR (ALSO OPERATING GND) CLRED ACR ABYY TO TAXI TO TXWY S1; HOLD SHORT RWY 36. I BELIEVE THE FEMALE CTLR WAS IN TRAINING AS SHE WOULD OCCASIONALLY MIX-UP OUR FLT NUMBERS (ABXX AND ABYY). JOINING FINAL WE STARTED TO OVERSHOOT FINAL APCH COURSE SO I DISENGAGED THE AUTOPLT AND FLEW THE ACFT ONTO THE ILS AVOIDING THE OVERSHOOT AS TWR CALLED US CONFIRMING THAT WE WERE ESTABLISHED INBOUND. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT I BELIEVE DAKAR CLRED US TO LAND. AFTER LNDG THE FEMALE CTLR CLRED US TO TAXI TO THE END OF THE RWY; TURN AROUND; BACK TAXI AND TAXI TO J-9. HERE ONCE AGAIN SHE MIXED UP OUR CALL SIGN; ACR ABXX WITH ACR ABYY. ABOUT 30 SECONDS AFTER OUR CLRNC HER SUPVR CALLED AND ASKED WHEN WE WERE CLRED TO LAND. I ADVISED TWR THAT WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO LAND; HOWEVER; DAKAR TWR CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THAT WE HAD NOT BEEN CLRED TO LAND. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 635752: SHE QUESTIONED IF WE WERE ESTABLISHED ON THE LOC. I REPLIED; 'NO; WE'RE TURNING TO INTERCEPT THE LOC.' IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT THE FO AND I THOUGHT SHE CLRED US FOR LNDG. THE MALE CTLR (PERHAPS SUPVR) TOLD US HE WAS FILING AN ACCIDENT RPT; AS WE HAD LANDED WITHOUT CLRNC. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT COM IN AFRICA IS DIFFICULT AT BEST. CTLRS SWITCH BACK AND FORTH BTWN ENGLISH AND FRENCH OFTEN AND THEY SPEAK VERY FAST. 'SAY AGAIN' IS COMMON TERMINOLOGY FOR MOST AMERICAN PLTS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 635751: I REMEMBER BEING CLRED FOR LOC AND THEN LNDG CLRNC. A B747 WAS HOLDING SHORT SO WE WERE ALL AWARE OF A POSSIBLE CONFLICT AND COLLECTIVELY ASSURED OURSELVES OF THE LNDG CLRNC.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.