PA28 LANDS AT 7SP ONLY TO LEARN IT WAS CLOSED.

Date: 2006-03 · Aircraft: PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior · Phase: landing

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

PA28 LANDS AT 7SP ONLY TO LEARN IT WAS CLOSED.

Narrative

AFTER OUR NORMAL PREFLT BRIEFING WE DEPARTED BVI TO HEAD TO 7SP. UPON FLYING THE VOR APCH INTO 7SP; WE LANDED AND EVERYTHING SEEMED NORMAL. WHILE BACK-TAXIING THE RWY; WE SAW A SERIES OF SAWHORSES WITH A HOMEMADE WHITE 'X' ACROSS THE TOP OF THEM. WE PERFORMED A 180 DEG TURN ON THE RWY AND THEN SAW ANOTHER SET OF SAWHORSES WITH AN 'X' AT THE OTHER END OF THE RWY AS WELL. AFTER A BRIEF DISCUSSION; I CALLED THE ARPT BEFORE WE DEPARTED BVI AND THE MAN THAT I SPOKE TO STATED THAT 'AS LONG AS THERE IS NO SNOW; YOU CAN LAND OR TAKE OFF WITHOUT ANY PROBS.' THE MAN ON THE PHONE MADE NO MENTION WHATSOEVER THAT THE ARPT WAS CLOSED. WE THEN STOPPED AND USED THE ARPT PHONE AS PER A NOTE ON THE PHONE TO CALL AN EXTENSION FOR A SHUTTLE TO THE RESTAURANT. THE PERSON ON THE PHONE STATED THAT THE ARPT WAS INDEED CLOSED. I PULLED OUT AN ARPT DIRECTORY AND VERIFIED THAT THE ARPT SHOWED 'CLOSED IN WINTER.' WINTER; AS DEFINED IN THE ALMANAC WAS OVER AND THE ARPT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OPEN. AFTER SOME THOUGHT; I ELECTED TO HAVE US DEPART THE FIELD. WE DEPARTED AND RETURNED TO BVI. THE CAUSE OF THIS PROB WAS A NUMBER OF FACTORS: THE DIRECTORY THAT I USED WAS NOT AN FAA ISSUED AFD. THE DIRECTORY CLRLY STATES THAT THE ARPT DOES NOT OPEN UNTIL APRIL 15TH. I NEED TO ENSURE THAT DURING MY PREFLT PLANNING THAT I USE AN OFFICIAL FAA AFD. THE 'X' ON THE RWY; IN MY OPINION; WAS NOT CLRLY MARKED. IF WE WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT; I WOULD HAVE ABORTED THE LNDG. THE PERSON THAT ANSWERED THE PHONE WITH THE FBO SHOULD HAVE STATED THAT THE ARPT WAS CLOSED ACCORDING TO THE FAA INFO. A MORE THOROUGH PREFLT PLANNING WOULD HAVE PREVENTED A LOT OF THIS. LESSON LEARNED.

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