F18 PLT LANDS ON OCCUPIED RWY DUE TO CRITICAL FUEL STATE.

Date: 2004-12 · Aircraft: Hornet (F-18)

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|conflict-ground-conflict|less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|ground-incursion-runway

Synopsis

F18 PLT LANDS ON OCCUPIED RWY DUE TO CRITICAL FUEL STATE.

Narrative

I WAS THE ONLY ACFT IN THE GCA 'BOX' PATTERN PRACTICING PAR/ASR APCHS. I EXECUTED CLBOUT TERMINATING MY APCH WITH 3800 LBS OF FUEL; ENOUGH FOR 1 MORE PRACTICE APCH TO A FULL STOP. DURING CLBOUT; I HEARD 5 OTHER ACFT CHK IN WITH APCH. I KNEW GETTING CAUGHT ON THE END OF THIS LINE WOULD PUT ME IN A NEAR EMER FUEL SIT. I REQUESTED THE SHORT HOOK TO FINAL FROM THE CTLR. THEY TOLD ME 'UNABLE' BECAUSE OF TFC SPACING APCHING MY 1 O'CLOCK POS AT 5 MI. I WAS VECTORED 20 NM S OF THE FIELD. TO CONSERVE FUEL; I STAYED CLEAN THROUGH MOST OF THE APCH. I LOWERED MY LNDG GEAR AT 3 MI. I SCANNED THE RWY AND NOTICED A TAXI LIGHT AT THE DEP END OF THE RWY. I FLEW THE APCH TO PUBLISHED MINIMUMS; TOOK OVER VISUALLY; AND FLEW THE BALL. MOMENTS BEFORE TOUCHDOWN; I WAS INFORMED BY APCH THAT TWR INSTRUCTED ME TO WAVE OFF. I ANTICIPATED A SIT LIKE THIS; AND WITH 2200 LBS OF GAS; WAVING OFF WOULD HAVE PUT ME IN AN EMER FUEL SIT; WITH A GOOD POSSIBILITY OF FLAMING OUT ON DOWNWIND OR FINAL. I KNEW WITH MY FUEL SIT; AND KNOWING THERE WERE 3 OTHER ACFT IN THE PATTERN; WAVING OFF WAS NOT A GOOD OPTION FOR ME. I SAW THE ACTIVITY AT THE APCH END OF AN 8000 FT RWY; AND TOLD CTL; 'UNABLE FUEL.' IF THEY WOULD HAVE INSTRUCTED ME AGAIN TO WAVE OFF; I WOULD HAVE DECLARED AN EMER BECAUSE I DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO EXECUTE A GAR. THE DECISION TO LAND POTENTIALLY AVOIDED AN EMER SIT OF FLAMEOUT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION RESULTING IN LOSS OF ACFT AND POSSIBLE LOSS OF LIFE. ON THE ROLL-OUT I AGGRESSIVELY APPLIED BRAKES TO MINIMIZE DISTANCE TRAVELED DURING LNDG ROLLOUT. I STOPPED WITHIN 3000 FT; SWITCHED TO TWR FREQ; AND ASKED FOR CLRNC TO TAXI. THEY GAVE ME CLRNC TO TAXI; TELLING ME; 'IF YOU SEE WAVE-OFF LIGHTS IN THE FUTURE; YOU SHOULD WAVE OFF AND ENTER TWR DOWNWIND.' THEY ALSO TOLD ME THE REASON FOR THE WAVE-OFF WAS DUE TO ANOTHER FLT TAXIING BACK FROM THE OVERRUN AREA. I REPLIED TO TWR WITH A 'ROGER;' THINKING TO MYSELF THE WAVE-OFF LIGHTS NEVER CAME ON. MY ONLY INDICATION OF A WAVE-OFF WAS FROM MY FINAL PAR CTLR. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS POTENTIAL MISHAP WAS MY DECISION TO MAXIMIZE TRAINING BY SHOOTING ANOTHER APCH. ATC'S INABILITY TO WORK A SHORT HOOK. POOR COMS BTWN TWR AND APCH; RESULTING IN A LATE WAVE-OFF. BUT THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE ACFT IN FRONT OF ME ENDED UP IN THE OVERRUN AREA; THEN ATTEMPTED TO BACK-TAXI FROM THE OVERRUN AREA.

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