WRONG RWY APCH TO RWY 17L DURING A NIGHT OP BY AN MD80 FLT CREW WHEN S-TURNING AND ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW TFC TO ASSIGNED RWY 17C AT DFW.
Synopsis
WRONG RWY APCH TO RWY 17L DURING A NIGHT OP BY AN MD80 FLT CREW WHEN S-TURNING AND ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW TFC TO ASSIGNED RWY 17C AT DFW.
Narrative
ON THE BONHAM ARR FOR RWY 17C; WE WERE TOO HIGH WHEN APCH TURNED US TOWARD THE RWY AND ASKED US IF WE COULD MAKE IT FROM THAT POS. I TOLD THEM WE WERE TOO HIGH AND ASKED FOR AN S-TURN TO LOSE ALT. APCH APPROVED THE S-TURN TO THE E; CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL; AND SWITCHED US TO TWR FREQ. WHEN I CONTACTED TWR; TO FURTHER CONFUSE MATTERS; WE WERE OFFERED RWY 17R; WHICH I DECLINED BECAUSE WE WERE ALREADY BUSY ENOUGH. THE FO MADE A L TURN TO ABOUT 70 DEGS FROM THE RWY HDG. DURING THE TURN; WE BOTH LOST SIGHT OF THE RWY; BUT AS WE TURNED BACK; WE BOTH SAW BRIGHT RWY LIGHTS WHICH WE ASSUMED WERE THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 17C. WE HAD BEEN TOLD THAT WE WERE #2 BEHIND A REGIONAL JET; AND WE BOTH SAW ANOTHER ACFT AHEAD OF US ON FINAL. WE CONTINUED THE DSCNT WATCHING THE GS INDICATORS UNTIL WE WERE AT A SAFE ALT FOR THE VISUAL APCH. BECAUSE WE BOTH HAD OUR NAV DISPLAYS IN THE MAP MODE; WE DID NOT NOTICE A SLIGHT DEV FROM THE LOC. AS WE ROLLED OUT ABOUT 3 MI FINAL; THE TWR TOLD US THAT WE WERE LINED UP FOR RWY 17L AND CLRED US TO LAND ON THAT RWY; ADVISING US THAT THERE WAS NO TFC CONFLICT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 636536: I GOT DISORIENTED BY CTLR INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW AN RJ. I FIXATED ON THE INCORRECT TFC.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.