2005-09 · NASA ASRS report 670145
FATIGUED PLT OF C525 SEES A LIKELY ARPT AND LANDS AT IT. DISCOVERS IT IS AN AFB INSTEAD OF HIS INTENDED DEST.
ATC ROUTED ME DIRECT TO EWM; ELP; THEN KELP. I WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN AND VMC. THIS WAS A QUICK TRIP AND HAD BEEN A BUSY FLYING WEEK IN EXTREME CONDITIONS. JUST PRIOR TO EWM; I SAW AN ARPT TO MY R LAID OUT SIMILAR TO ELP. I CALLED THE ARPT IN SIGHT AND WAS CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO RWY 8R IN ELP. THERE IS NO INSTRUMENT APCH PROC FOR RWY 8R IN ELP. I WAS HANDED OFF TO EL PASO TWR AND WAS CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 8R. THERE IS A LARGE MOUNTAIN JUST W OF THE ARPT I WAS FOCUSING MY ATTENTION ON. THE ARPT I WAS AIMING FOR HAD SIMILAR RWY LAYOUTS AND BUILDINGS APPEARED SIMILAR TO WHAT I SAW ON THE ARPT DIAGRAM. I LANDED ON TXWY B AT BIGGS ARMY AIRFIELD; 2 MILES N OF ELP. ON SHORT APCH I FELT SOMETHING WAS NOT RIGHT BECAUSE OF THE RWY MARKINGS. I TALKED MYSELF OUT OF A GO AROUND BECAUSE EVERYTHING LOOKED LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO. I ALSO THOUGHT THAT ATC WOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING IF I LINED UP ON THE WRONG ARPT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: SINGLE PLT; FATIGUED; A LOT OF SHORT HOPS INTO CHALLENGING ARPTS ALL WEEK; SHORT FLT; OVERWORKED. WHEN THINGS DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT; I SHOULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A GO AROUND. BEING MY FIRST TIME IN ELP AND RECENTLY BEEN INTO A NUMBER OF SMALL ARPTS WITH NONSTANDARD RWY MARKINGS; AND NO INSTRUMENT APCH TO 8R AT ELP; I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE THE RWY HAD NONSTANDARD MARKINGS. ALSO; I WAS DEPENDING ON ATC. THERE WERE NO LNDG FEES; CHARGES FILED; OR CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED BY BIGGS ARMY AIRFIELD.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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