A G IV PILOT REPORTS FATIGUE LEADING TO AN UNSTABILIZED APCH TO LFMN.
Synopsis
A G IV PILOT REPORTS FATIGUE LEADING TO AN UNSTABILIZED APCH TO LFMN.
Narrative
WE WERE CLRED FOR THE VOR/DME CGS RIVIERA CIRCLE-TO-LAND APCH FOR RWY 4L AT LFMN. WE BRIEFED THE APCH WELL AND FLEW THE APCH WELL -- THAT IS; UNTIL THE D5.0 CGS FIX AT WHICH POINT WE WERE TO EITHER FLY VISUALLY TO THE RWY OR EXECUTE A MISSED APCH. AT THE 35.0 FIX WE TOOK OVER VISUALLY AND HEADED TO THE ARPT. VISIBILITY WAS; I BELIEVE; 6 MI (10K) WITH NO CEILING. I WAS THE PF AND STARTED A DSCNT FROM 3000 FT AND BEGAN A TURN TO THE ARPT. THE PNF IN THE R SEAT WAS IN A BETTER POS TO SEE THE RWYS AND BECAUSE OF MY POS (L SEAT; IN A TURN; DSNDING) I HAD TROUBLE KEEPING MY EYE ON THE RWY. I BEGAN TO LINE UP ON RWY 4R INSTEAD OF RWY 4L AND BEGAN A DSCNT FOR RWY 4R. THE PNF POINTED OUT RWY 4L FOR ME. I WAS LOW FOR RWY 4L AND ROLLED OUT OF THE TURN; THEN OVERSHOT RWY 4L AND HAD TO TURN TO THE R TO GET BACK ON THE CTRLINE FOR RWY 4L. STILL LOW; I ADDED PWR TO GET BACK ON THE PROPER GLIDE PATH AND SPD FOR THE RWY. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED ON ABOUT A 2 MI FINAL. WE LANDED SAFELY AND ATC (LCL) DID NOT MENTION EITHER MY ALT OR COURSE EXCURSIONS ON THE VISUAL PORTION OF THE APCH. THERE WAS NO TFC CONFLICT. I WAS DISAPPOINTED IN THE APCH BECAUSE WE HAD BRIEFED IT SO WELL. THERE WERE SEVERAL FACTORS INVOLVED: 1) VISIBILITY WAS NOT GREAT AND WHEN WE REACHED THE D5.0 WE HAD THE ARPT AND RWYS IN SIGHT BUT IT WASN'T VERY SHARP. I BEGAN TURNING TOWARDS THE WRONG RWY UNTIL CORRECTED BY THE PNF. 2) AN ACFT WAS TAKING OFF FROM RWY 4R. I MISTAKENLY THOUGHT THAT WAS THE ACFT WE WERE FOLLOWING FOR LNDG ON RWY 4L AND THAT HE WAS ON THE LNDG ROLL. 3) WHILE WE BRIEFED THE APCH WELL; OUR BRIEFING STOPPED AT THE D5.0 FIX. NO TALK AMONG US ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD DO AFTER REACHING THAT POINT. I DID NOT SPECIFICALLY ASK THE PNF TO POINT TO THE ARPT OR THE RWY. VISIBILITY WAS SUCH THAT SEEING THE ARPT WAS NOT GOING TO BE A PROB. I WAS INSIDE FLYING THE PRESCRIBED APCH AND I DISREGARDED WHAT WAS OUTSIDE UNTIL THE FINAL MOMENT AND THEN HAD TROUBLE PUTTING MY EYE ON THE ARPT. THE PNF WHO SAW THE ARPT AND RWY DID NOT OFFER ANY EARLY CORRECTIONS FOR THE FINAL APCH COURSE AND NOW I WAS BUSY LOOKING OUTSIDE AND DISREGARDED THE CTRLINE EXTENSION I BUILD IN THE FMS FOR RWY 4. 4) FATIGUE. WE HAD DEPARTED ZZZ1 (US) 2 DAYS BEFORE AT AROUND XA15 LNDG AT LFMN IN THE AFTERNOON OF THE NEXT DAY. BEFORE OUR DEP WE LEARNED THAT WE WOULD BE PICKING UP SOME OTHER PAX IMMEDIATELY UPON ARR TO FLY FROM LFMN TO ZZZZ2. SLEEP BEFORE OUR ZZZ1 (US) DEP WAS SPORADIC DURING THE DAY. THE EXTRA LEG WOULD STILL PUT US WELL WITHIN FLT AND DUTY TIME LIMITS BUT I KNEW THE NEXT WOULD BE A LONG DAY. THAT DAY WE WERE TO DEPART ZZZZ2 FOR LFMN WITH PAX. WE WOULD BE OFF DUTY FOR ABOUT 21 HRS. SLEEP WOULDN'T COME FOR ME THAT NIGHT; BUT I WAS NOT CONCERNED -- WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO LEAVE THE HOTEL FOR THE ARPT UNTIL THE AFTERNOON FOR OUR FLT TO LFMN. I FELL ASLEEP ABOUT XF30 ON THAT DAY. PRETTY GOOD; BECAUSE THAT WOULD GIVE ME A FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP. THE PHONE RANG TWO HOURS LATER. IT WAS OUR DISPATCH SAYING THAT THE DEP TIME WAS NOW XQ00. THE PAX WANTED XQ30 BUT THE ONLY SLOT AVAILABLE WAS XQ00. I CALLED THE ARPT TO CHANGE OUR HOTEL PICK-UP TIME AND THEN CALLED OUR HANDLER TO CHANGE OUR DEP AND LFMN ARR TIMES. I FELL ASLEEP AGAIN AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER. DISPATCH CALLED AGAIN SAYING THE PAX WANTED TO LEAVE AT XS30; THE ORIGINAL TIME. I AGAIN MADE ALL THE PHONE CALLS TO GET THINGS CHANGED BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE. DISPATCH; I BELIEVE; CONFUSED TIME ZONES; GMT AND LCL TIME; AND INDEED HAD NO IDEA WHAT TIME IT WAS IN ZZZZ2 AND FOR SOME REASON THOUGHT THAT THE PAX WANTED TO LEAVE AT XQ30 INSTEAD OF XS30. I COULD NOT GET BACK TO SLEEP AND THE PNF DIDN'T SLEEP WELL EITHER. WE WERE BOTH EXHAUSTED BY THE TIME WE ARRIVED AT THE ARPT FOR DEP. THE ONE THING WE; AS A CREW; COULD HAVE DONE MUCH BETTER WOULD BE TO COMPLETE THE APCH BRIEFING ALL THE WAY TO THE CIRCLING RWY. IT WAS A CIRCLING APCH WITH A 90 DEG TURN TO THE R. AFTER REACHING THE D5.0 FIX; CRM SEEMED TO HAVE BROKEN DOWN AND BOTH PLTS; LOOKING BACK; SEEMED TO BE LISTLESS AND NOT INVOLVED.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.