B747-200 FLT CREW DURING ARR TO VGZR HAS DIFFICULTY WITH ATC INSTRUCTION DUE TO LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES.
Synopsis
B747-200 FLT CREW DURING ARR TO VGZR HAS DIFFICULTY WITH ATC INSTRUCTION DUE TO LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES.
Narrative
WE WERE CLRED FOR AN ILS APCH INTO DHAKA; BANGLADESH; FROM ABOUT 20-30 MI OUT IN A NON-RADAR ENVIRONMENT. WE TOOK THE CLRNC TO MEAN WE WOULD INTERCEPT THE LOC FROM OUR POS VIA A HDG FROM TWR; BUT THE CAPT MADE NO INDICATIONS HE WAS GOING TO TURN TO INTERCEPT THE COURSE. I QUERIED TWR AND THEY SAID THE RADAR WAS OFF AND NO HDGS WERE ISSUED. SHORTLY THEREAFTER; I NOTICED WE WERE APCHING THE ARPT AT 2000 FT -- OUR CLRED LEVEL AND THE MSA -- AND STATED AS SUCH TO THE CAPT. WE TURNED R DOING ROUGHLY 360 DEGS TO INTERCEPT A 342 OR 344 DEG COURSE OUTBOUND; AND TWR CLRED US FOR A VOR DME ILS APCH. THIS WENT MUCH BETTER. WE INTERCEPTED THE LOC; BUT HAD NO GS GUIDANCE ON EITHER PLT'S INSTS. FORTUNATELY; WE WERE IN VISUAL CONDITIONS AND WE LANDED UNEVENTFULLY. THE APCH THE CAPT BRIEFED WAS AN ILS 'LOCATOR' APCH. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN OK IF WE'D HAVE PROCEEDED TO THE ARPT; THEN OUTBOUND ON THE LOC FOR A COURSE REVERSAL. MOST OF MY CHARTS FOR DHAKA; BANGLADESH; WERE MISSING SO I DID NOT REALIZE THERE WERE A COUPLE OTHER ILS APCHS -- ONE WITH A DME ARC TO INTERCEPT THE LOC AND THE VOR DME ILS. EITHER ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE. PART OF THE CONFUSION CAME FROM EXTREMELY DIFFICULT COMS WITH THE CTLRS. HAD WE BEEN MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE APCHS; WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO QUESTION THE CTLRS TO WHICH ILS APCH WE WERE CLRED FOR. ULTIMATELY; WE MADE IT WORK. I THUMBED THROUGH THE CAPT'S APCHS; NOTICED THE ONE WITH THE ARC; FOUND THE VOR DME ILS; AND SET HIM UP FOR IT. THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF TO HAVE POSSIBLY CHKED THE GS WOULD HAVE BEEN TO RESET THE ILS MODE ON THE MCP; BUT WE WERE VISUAL AND THE THOUGHT DID NOT CROSS MY MIND WHILE WE WERE GETTING CONFIGURED FOR LNDG.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.