H25B ON APCH TO VRB EXPERIENCED CONFLICT AT 3000 FT WITH OTHER PATTERN TFC AS A RESULT OF A BLOCKED XMISSION.
Synopsis
H25B ON APCH TO VRB EXPERIENCED CONFLICT AT 3000 FT WITH OTHER PATTERN TFC AS A RESULT OF A BLOCKED XMISSION.
Narrative
WE WERE ON APCH TO VRB AT 3000 FT MSL WITH VECTORS FROM ATC EXPECTING THE GPS RWY 29L APCH. WITHIN BOUT 20 NM FROM THE ARPT WE WERE VECTORED ONTO A R DOWNWIND AND ASKED BY ZMA TO SET UP FOR THE VOR RWY 29L APCH INSTEAD. WE WERE SHORTLY VECTORED ONTO BASE LEG AND ASKED TO REDUCE SPD TO MINIMUM APCH SPD. I SLOWED THE ACFT FROM 250 KIAS TO ABOUT 165 KIAS AND BEGAN TO CONFIGURE THE ACFT. ATC MADE A XMISSION THAT WE BOTH COULD NOT UNDERSTAND DUE TO INTERFERENCE; BUT SUSPECTED WE WERE BEING CLRED FOR THE APCH. THE FO ADVISED ATC THAT THE XMISSION WAS 'BLOCKED' AND ASKED TO VERIFY IF WE WERE CLRED FOR THE APCH. ATC CONFIRMED APCH CLRNC AND HANDED US OFF TO VRB TWR. WE WERE STILL AT 3000 FT MSL AND INTERCEPTED THE INBOUND COURSE ABOUT 20 MI FROM THE ARPT WHILE STILL MAINTAINING MINIMUM AIRSPD. WE WERE CONCERNED THAT WE HAD NOT BEEN CLRED FOR A LOWER ALT AND SINCE WE WOULD NOT BE ON A PUBLISHED APCH SEGMENT UNTIL LESS THAN 10 MI OUT; WE MAINTAINED 3000 FT MSL AS PREVIOUSLY CLRED. WE WERE ALSO WONDERING WHY WE WERE ASKED TO MAINTAIN SUCH A SLOW AIRSPD SINCE THE ACFT IN FRONT OF US ON THE APCH APPEARED TO BE MORE THAN 10 MI AHEAD. AT ABOUT 15 MI FROM THE ARPT AND ESTABLISHED ON THE FINAL APCH COURSE; WE NOTED AN ACFT CONVERGING ON TCAS AT THE SAME ALT ABOUT 5 MI OUT FROM OUR 2 O'CLOCK POS. THE ACFT APPEARED TO BE ON A R BASE LEG TO FINAL AND WAS MOVING VERY FAST. I ADVISED VRB TWR AND ATTEMPTED TO ESTABLISH VISUAL CONTACT. WE SAW THE ACFT AT ABOUT 3 MI ENTERING A HARD L TURN BEHIND US AND CLBING SLIGHTLY. WE RECEIVED A TA BUT NOT AN RA AND DID NOT TAKE EVASIVE ACTION AS THE ACFT; A BIZJET; PASSED ABOUT 1 1/2 MI OFF OUR R SIDE AND BEHIND US. THE ACFT LANDED AFTER US AND FROM A DISCUSSION WITH THE CREW ON THE GND; I LEARNED THEY WERE BEING VECTORED ONTO THE SAME APCH AND DIRECTLY AT US. I MADE A PHONE CALL TO THE ATC FACILITY RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT AREA AND FROM A DISCUSSION WITH THE SUPVR IT APPEARED THAT THE CTLR FELT HE HAD CLRED US TO 2000 FT MSL BUT DUE TO THE BLOCKED XMISSION WE NEVER HEARD THE FULL CLRNC. THE CTLR NEVER REPEATED THE FULL CLRNC NOR DID WE ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIVING IT AFTER WE ADVISED HIM OF THE BLOCKED XMISSION. I FEEL THAT THE INADEQUATE COMS; THE LONG FINAL APCH VECTOR; AND THE UNNECESSARILY SLOW AIRSPD ASSIGNED BY ATC CAUSED A SEQUENCING ERROR AND A POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT WITH THE ACFT FOLLOWING US ON THE APCH. THE ACFT CONVERGING ON US SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN THAT AREA EVEN IF WE HAD BEEN 1000 FT LOWER SINCE THEY WERE MOVING FASTER AND WOULD HAVE BEEN TURNING FINAL DIRECTLY OVER US AND POSSIBLY IN FRONT OF US. I ALSO FEEL THAT CHANGING THE APCH FROM THE GPS TO THE VOR ON THE SAME RWY HAD UNNECESSARILY INCREASED OUR WORKLOAD DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF THE FLT AND CAUSED US TO DELAY QUESTIONING THE LACK OF A CLRNC FOR A LOWER ALT. WE WERE STILL SETTING UP THE APCH AND REVIEWING THE APCH PLATE AS WE WERE BEING CLRED FOR THE APCH. BOTH APCHS HAD IDENTICAL FINAL APCH COURSES. THE ATC SUPVR HAD COMMENTED THAT THEY WERE EXTREMELY BUSY DUE TO HVY TFC FLOW ORIGINATING IN THE CARIBBEAN.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.