TWIN CESSNA PILOT REPORTS MISIDENTIFYING SEE WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND VISUALLY AT MYF AND PROBLEMS WITH FREQUENCY CONGESTION ON BOTH APPROACH AND MYF TOWER.

Date: 2007-07 · Aircraft: Chancellor 414A / C414 · Phase: approach

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types

Synopsis

TWIN CESSNA PILOT REPORTS MISIDENTIFYING SEE WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND VISUALLY AT MYF AND PROBLEMS WITH FREQUENCY CONGESTION ON BOTH APPROACH AND MYF TOWER.

Narrative

THE DAY STARTED WITH TYPICAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STRATUS; RESULTING IN HIGH IFR TFC DURING THE MORNING HRS AND PROBABLY DELAYED VFR FLTS UNTIL THE AFTERNOON CLRING. I WAS REPOSITIONING TO MYF. ALTHOUGH I HAVE FLOWN IN THE LA BASIN FOR 30 YRS; IN HIGH DENSITY; I ELECTED TO FILE IFR TO MYF TO DEAL WITH THE CLASS B AIRSPACE AND SEQUENCING INTO MYF. CHKING IN ON THE APCH SECTOR WAS DELAYED 3-4 MINS DUE TO FREQ CONGESTION. THE CTLR WAS TALKING NON-STOP. I BELIEVE I AM IN THE UPPER 10% OF PLTS -- I FLY PROFESSIONALLY. HOWEVER; THIS CTLR WAS CLEARLY OVERWORKED AND DOING A REASONABLE JOB OF IT. TO 'HELP OUT;' I OFFERED THAT I HAD THE ARPT AND WOULD ACCEPT A VISUAL. IN FACT; I MADE A ROOKIE ERROR OF MISIDENTING THE ARPT -- I WAS LOOKING AT SEE INSTEAD OF MYF. THE CTLR CLRED ME FOR A VISUAL. HE DID NOT POINT OUT THE ARPT. WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO CHK IN WITH MYF TWR; I AGAIN ENCOUNTERED OVERLY CONGESTED FREQS -- THE TWR AND PLTS WERE STEPPING ON EACH OTHER. IT TOOK ABOUT 90 SECONDS TO CHK IN. I RPTED DOWNWIND HIGH. (I WAS AT SEE; NOT MYF.) THE TWR CTLR DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE UNTIL THE 3RD OR 4TH CALL. AT THAT TIME; HE GAVE ME VECTORS. I COMPLIED FOR ABOUT 1 MI; THEN CALLED AGAIN; REFUSING THE VECTOR WHICH WAS INTO A MOUNTAIN. AT THAT TIME I WAS ABOUT 700-1000 FT ABOVE TERRAIN AND HOUSING; BUT TERRAIN WAS RISING. FINALLY; THE CTLR MUST HAVE REALIZED THAT I WAS NOT THE ACFT HE THOUGHT HE WAS VECTORING AND ASKED ME TO SQUAWK XXXX. (I WAS STILL ON MY IFR CODE.) HE THEN DETERMINED THAT I WAS AT THE WRONG ARPT AND GAVE ME CLB AND NEW VECTORS FOR AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG. HAD THIS BEEN A NIGHT APCH; THE SPURIOUS VECTORS COULD HAVE BEEN INTO TERRAIN. IN THINKING ABOUT FAULT; THE BULK OF THE BLAME LIES WITH ME: I LOST SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. IN THINKING ABOUT THE APCH; I WAS SUCKERED INTO BELIEVING THAT SEE WAS MY ARPT. I HAD IDENTED MIRAMAR AND SAN; BUT HAD LOST TRACK OF HOW FAR E I HAD COME. I HAD THE ILS AND GPS OVERLAY SET UP IN THE GARMINS. (AND I TEACH GARMIN USAGE. I AM PROBABLY IN THE UPPER 5% OF PLTS IN USING THESE TOOLS.) I SIMPLY TUNED OUT OTHER SITUATIONAL CUES -- I 'HAD THE ARPT.' FORTUNATELY; I DID RETAIN TFC SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. I WAS MONITORING MY ACTIVE TCAD SYS AND VISUALLY WATCHING TFC AT SEE. THE APCH CTLR COULD HAVE BROKEN THE ERROR CHAIN BY POINTING OUT THE ARPT. 'ARPT 3 O'CLOCK AND 10 MI; CLRED FOR THE VISUAL' WOULD HAVE SET OFF ALARMS WHEN THE ARPT I SAW WAS 9 O'CLOCK POS AND 3 MI. THE FREQ CONGESTION IS A REAL PROB; BOTH AT SOCAL AND AT THE TWR. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT BOTH OF THESE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BROKEN INTO SMALLER SECTORS. MYF ALWAYS IS BUSY ON THE RADIO. THEY OPERATE 2 RWYS. THEY SHOULD HAVE 2 FREQS -- L AND R RWYS. THE TWR CTLR MISUSED RADAR. I WAS GIVEN A VECTOR WITHOUT HIM IDENTING ME. THE VECTOR WAS INTO HIGH TERRAIN. AT NIGHT; THIS COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL.

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