A BE36 PILOT AND INSTRUCTOR LANDED ON PBI TXWY L WHICH IS LONGER AND WIDER THAN THE ADJACENT RWY 9R/27L.
Synopsis
A BE36 PILOT AND INSTRUCTOR LANDED ON PBI TXWY L WHICH IS LONGER AND WIDER THAN THE ADJACENT RWY 9R/27L.
Narrative
VFR FLT. L SEAT PLT; OWNER OF THE BE36 BONANZA WAS RECEIVING REFRESHER TRAINING FROM INSTRUCTOR/PLT IN THE R SEAT. HE IS ALSO A BONANZA OWNER AND HAS GIVEN MORE THAN 200 HRS OF DUAL INSTRUCTION IN BONANZAS. WX WAS CLR; NO RESTR TO VISIBILITY; TIME WAS SHORTLY AFTER XA00. MY ACFT WAS INITIALLY CLRED TO LAND ON RWY XXR. TWR CTLR SUBSEQUENTLY ASKED IF WE COULD TAKE RWY XXL. RWY XXL WAS PREFERABLE; AS IT WAS CLOSER TO THE FBO. WIND WAS RPTED AS 350 DEGS; 16 KTS. NOTE THAT THIS IS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN DEMONSTRATED XWIND PER POH. AN ACR JET WAS LIFTING OFF RWY XXR WHEN ACFT WAS ON SHORT FINAL. BOTH PLTS WERE FOCUSING ON 2 ELEMENTS OF THE LNDG: 1) THE SIGNIFICANT XWIND AT 80 DEGS FROM THE RWY HDG; AND 2) THE POSSIBILITY OF WAKE TURB -- THE DEPARTING ACR JET WAS UPWIND FROM US AND THERE WAS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE WAKE TURB WOULD DRIFT DOWNWIND AND AFTER US. IT TURNED OUT THAT THE WAKE TURB WAS NO FACTOR; AND THE OTHER PLT HANDLED THE 16 KT XWIND IN TEXTBOOK FASHION; TOUCHING DOWN WITH NO DRIFT; SMOOTHLY; AND EXACTLY ON THE CTRLINE OF THE TXWY PARALLEL TO AND BTWN RWYS XXL AND XXR. ALTHOUGH THIS ERROR WAS COMMITTED BY THE PLTS OF MY ACFT WHO BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ERROR; IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT NOTHING WAS SAID BY THE CTL TWR PERSONNEL -- NO HINT THAT THE ACFT WAS HEADING FOR A TXWY INSTEAD OF A RWY; NOR A SUGGESTION TO GO AROUND. FORTUNATELY; NO ONE WAS HURT; NO DAMAGE WAS DONE TO ANY PROPERTY. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE PAVED AREA OF THE TXWY IS BOTH WIDER AND LONGER THAN THE INTENDED RWY. WHEN ON FINAL AT 1 OR 2 MI OUT; IT APPEARS THAT THE LARGER PAVED AREA IS THE RWY AND THE SMALLER PAVED AREA IS THE TXWY (THE REVERSE IS TRUE). ONCE THE PLTS HAVE THIS MINDSET; AND ARE FOCUSED ON THE XWIND AND THE POSSIBILITY OF WAKE TURB FROM THE DEPARTING JET; IT IS ALL TOO EASY TO MAKE THE MISTAKE THAT WE MADE. AFTER THE LNDG; WE WERE APCHED BY THE FACILITY MGR; WHO INDICATED THAT WE WERE FAR FROM THE FIRST TO HAVE MADE THIS MISTAKE. HE ASKED WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO PREVENT THIS. THE PLT'S RESPONSE WAS: 'CLRER RWY AND TXWY MARKINGS.' IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THIS ERROR WOULD HAVE BEEN MADE AT NIGHT -- IT IS EASY TO DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENCE BTWN WHITE RWY LIGHTS AND BLUE TXWY LIGHTS. AFTER LNDG; WE DID NOTE THAT THE ATIS DID INCLUDE A VERBAL NOTE TO CONFIRM LNDG RWY VISUALLY; BUT THE ATIS XMISSION WAS NOT CLR AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND; PARTIALLY DUE TO THE ACCENT OF THE PERSON WHO MADE THE RECORDING. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE REPORTER STATED THAT A MARKING OF SOME SORT ON THE TAXIWAY WOULD CAUSE PILOTS TO DISTINGUISH IT FROM THE RWY. THE REPORTER SUGGESTED AN X MARKING. HE AND THE STUDENT WERE DEALING WITH THE CROSS WIND; AND THE ACR (POSSIBLE ACR WAKE TURBULENCE). OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS A PERFECT DAY WITH NO OTHER INTERFERENCE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.