2005-03 · NASA ASRS report 649822
ARRIVING AT PIZ ON A VFR FLT PLAN; DETERIORATING WX IS ENCOUNTERED ONCE IN THE TFC PATTERN SO A DIVERSION WAS MADE.
WE FLEW TO PT LAY; AK; THE ENRTE WAS CLR. AS WE WERE 10 MILES OUT; WE HAD ASCERTAINED THE VISIBILITY HAD DROPPED TO ONE MILE; THE AWOS WAS OUT OF SVC. AS WE NEARED THE ARPT; WE COULD SEE THE RWY; THE LARGE RADAR SITE; AND HANGAR OFF THE END OF THE RWY. WE ENTERED A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 05. WE MAINTAINED A VISUAL ON THE RWY FROM DOWNWIND TO BASE. AS WE TURNED FINAL WE DECIDED THAT THE FLT VISIBILITY AT A LOWER ALT WOULD BE LOWER THAN VFR MINIMUMS; AND DID NOT LAND OR DSND ANY FURTHER. WE WERE NOT AT ANY TIME IN THE CLOUDS. WE HAD REMAINED VFR ENTIRELY. RECOMMENDATION: PT LAY HAS 2 AWOS SYSTEMS THAT DON'T WORK. THEY ALSO HAVE AN NDB APCH THAT STILL ISN'T CERTIFIED. THE WORST WX ON THE NORTH SLOPE CAN BE IN PT LAY. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE TWO RPTED AWOS SYSTEMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE. ONE IS INOP AND THE OTHER IS RPTED IN A TEST STATUS. PERSONNEL ON THE GND ARE USED FOR VISIBILITY RPTS BASED ON PREDETERMINED LANDMARKS BUT THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED WX OBSERVERS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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