TURBO COMMANDER AC690 LANDS ON A CLOSED RWY AT MWH.
Synopsis
TURBO COMMANDER AC690 LANDS ON A CLOSED RWY AT MWH.
Narrative
AFTER CLRED FOR A VISUAL APCH TO THE MWH ARPT; WE SET UP FOR A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 32R (13300+ FT). WINDS FAVORED THIS RWY; AND WERE LIGHT. WE WERE NOT ABLE TO TURN THE LIGHTS ON FOR THE RWY USING THE PCL; THOUGH THE LIGHTS FOR THE XING RWY WERE ON. WHILE ON FINAL WE CONSIDERED LNDG ON THE XING RWY; BUT NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A FOG BANK ON THE APCH END OF THE RWY; AND CONSIDERING OUR POS; THE MOON ALLOWING PLENTY OF LIGHT; THE 300 FT WIDTH OF THE RWY AND THE FAMILIARITY OF THE RWY; (BOTH OF US WERE EXTREMELY FAMILIAR WITH THIS FIELD); WE OPTED THAT THE SAFEST THING TO DO WAS TO CONTINUE THE LNDG ON THE UNLIGHTED RWY. THE LNDG WAS COMPLETED UNEVENTFULLY. UPON SHUTDOWN I BEGAN TO LOOK FOR THE FIRE STATION PERSONNEL WHO ARE ON THE FIELD TO SEE IF THEY CAN TURN THE LIGHTS UP; AS WE HAD ANOTHER ACFT INBOUND SOON. I WAS UNABLE TO GET ANYONE TO ANSWER THE DOOR; SO I CALLED FLT SVC TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY NOTAMS THAT WERE UNKNOWN TO US (WE HAD ORIGINALLY RECEIVED A FULL BRIEFING AND DID NOT SEE ANY NOTAMS THAT WOULD AFFECT OUR FLT). THEY SAID THERE WERE NONE; AND ADVISED THAT IF WE FIND ANYTHING OUT WE WERE TO LET THEM KNOW. THE AIRBORNE ACFT QUERIED THE CTR CTLR ABOUT THE LIGHTS AND HE SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE ANY INFO ON ANY CLOSURES OR OUTAGES AT THE ARPT. AFTER QUITE A FEW ATTEMPTS WE WERE ABLE TO TALK TO THE FIRE STATION ATTENDANT WHO NOTIFIED US THAT RWY 32R IS CLOSED WHEN THE TWR IS CLOSED; AND SAID WE SHOULD CHK OUR NOTAMS MORE CLOSELY. AFTER CHKING ONCE AGAIN WE CONFIRMED THERE WERE IN FACT NO NOTAMS THAT AFFECTED A FULL CLOSURE OF RWY 32R THAT EVENING. THERE WAS ONE FOR THE NW 3000 FT OF THE RWY EXCEPT FOR MIL TFC FOR THE FOLLOWING NIGHT. I CALLED FLT SVC AND NOTIFIED THEM OF WHAT I HAD FOUND AND THEY SAID IT IS A PUBLISHED 'AFD NOTAM;' BUT IT DID NOT COME UP UPON A SEARCH FOR RWY 32R DUE TO A MISPRINT (RWYS 14L-32R).
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.