PA34 PILOT REPORTS GETTING WELL BELOW GS DURING AN ILS APPROACH IN VISUAL CONDITIONS.

Date: 2007-07 · Aircraft: PA-34-200 Seneca I · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

PA34 PILOT REPORTS GETTING WELL BELOW GS DURING AN ILS APPROACH IN VISUAL CONDITIONS.

Narrative

CONDITIONS WERE VFR UPON ARR AND I EXPECTED A VISUAL APCH TO THE RWY. I WAS CLRED TO INTERCEPT THE LOC FOR RWY 20 THEN CLRED FOR THE ILS APCH. I HAD THE RWY IN SIGHT APPROX 7 MI OUT ON FINAL. I WAS DSNDING TO INITIAL APCH ALT WHEN I INTERCEPTED THE LOC. NOTICED I WAS ON GS. I INITIATED A DSCNT ON THE GS WHILE MAINTAINING VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE RWY. JUST OUTSIDE OF THE FAF; THE CTLR ADVISED I INDICATED LOW ON THE APCH. I CHKED MY INSTS AND SHOWED ON GS AND ON LOC. I MAINTAINED VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE RWY AND ANALYZED THE PROB. THE GS WAS ERRATIC WITH THE FLAG MOVING IN AND OUT OF VIEW. I EXPECTED THE FLAG TO BE FULLY PULLED AS I WAS VERY CLOSE TO THE OM. I QUESTIONED THE TWR IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY RPTS OF GS PROBS. THEY INDICATED THEY HAD JUST SWITCHED THE APCH AND I WAS THE FIRST ONE TO USE IT THAT DAY LNDG ON RWY 20. I LEVELED THE ACFT. APCH RPTED I WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL GS ALT. I PROCEEDED TO FLY VISUALLY TO THE ARPT AND COMPLETED A NORMAL LNDG. AFTER REVIEW OF THE SIT I THINK THERE WERE SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO CORRECT OR AVOID THIS PROB. THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS: I SHOULD HAVE PREPARED FOR A COMPLETE APCH EVEN THOUGH THE ARPT WAS VISUAL AND THE RWY WAS IN SIGHT. THIS LURED ME INTO A COMPLACENCY THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO NOT REVIEWING THE CHARTS AS COMPLETELY AS I SHOULD HAVE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE DSNDED BELOW THE INITIAL APCH ALT UNTIL CONFIRMING I HAD PASSED THE OM AND THE ALT HAD CHKED AT THE FAF; IRREGARDLESS OF THE GS INDICATION. THE VISUAL CONDITIONS WITH THE RWY IN SIGHT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS. THE ACFT HAD BEEN DOWN FOR MAINT AND I HAD NOT FLOWN IT FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. WHILE I WAS PROFICIENT WITH TKOF AND LNDGS I HAD NOT MADE AN ILS APCH IN THIS ACFT IN A WHILE. THERE IS NOT ONE AT MY HOME AIRFIELD. I FLY EFIS/FMS ACFT PROFESSIONALLY AND FIND MY INST SCAN NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS IT USED TO BE. EFIS/FMS USES MORE OF AN INFO SCAN WHERE CONVENTIONAL ACFT REQUIRE A DISCIPLINED INST SCAN. IT IS POSSIBLE I DID NOT SEE A GS FLAG THAT APPEARED INTERMITTENTLY WHEN ATC BROUGHT THE LOW ALT TO MY ATTN. THE FLAG MOVED IN AND OUT OF VIEW. IF I LOCKED ON THE GS WITH A WEAK SIGNAL; THE GS NULLS TO THE CTRED POS MAKING IT LOOK LIKE YOU ARE ON GS. I WILL NEVER ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN AGAIN. I HAVE BEEN FLYING FOR 35 YRS AND HAVE NEVER HAD AN INCIDENT OR VIOLATION OF ANY KIND. I OPERATE WITH VERY DISCIPLINED COMPANY SOPS. I NEEDED TO REMIND MYSELF TO OPERATE WITH THE SAME DISCIPLINES WHEN OPERATING GA ACFT. THE VISUAL CONDITIONS CREATED SOME COMPLACENCY AND I JUST ASSUMED A STRAIGHT IN APCH TO THE RWY WOULD BE ALL THAT WAS REQUIRED. HAD THERE BEEN A LOW WX APCH I AM SURE I WOULD HAVE DOUBLE-CHKED EVERYTHING IN PREPARATION FOR THE APCH. I NEED TO DO THIS EVERY TIME REGARDLESS OF WX CONDITIONS. I RECOGNIZE THAT HAD THIS BEEN IN LOW VISIBILITY CONDITIONS AND HAD THE TWR NOT NOTIFIED ME OF MY ALT; THERE COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUS SAFETY RAMIFICATIONS. THIS WAS A WAKE UP CALL TO TREAT RECREATIONAL GA FLYING WITH THE SAME DEGREE OF INTENSITY AS PROFESSIONAL FLYING. A BAD DECISION CAN BE JUST AS DEADLY. THE ACFT WAS NEVER IN A DANGEROUS POS AND WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN OUT OF BOUNDS FOR A VISUAL APCH WITHOUT THE ILS EQUIP. I DID LEARN A VALUABLE LESSON AND WILL NOT REPEAT THIS TYPE OF ERROR.

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