B717 FLT CREW LANDS 25L IN IMC AT LAX AFTER TWO RWY CHANGES WITH CLEARANCE FOR ILS 25R.

Date: 2007-11 · Aircraft: B717 (Formerly MD-95) · Phase: landing

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|ground-incursion-runway

Synopsis

B717 FLT CREW LANDS 25L IN IMC AT LAX AFTER TWO RWY CHANGES WITH CLEARANCE FOR ILS 25R.

Narrative

APPROX 45 MINS PRIOR TO LNDG; THE FO INQUIRED ABOUT SPECIFIC ISSUES RELATED TO LAX AS HE HAD NEVER OPERATED AT THAT ARPT. I BRIEFED HIM ON ISSUES SUCH AS USUAL RWY ASSIGNMENT; VIGILANCE FOR HOLD SHORT INSTRUCTIONS; ETC. I ALSO BRIEFED THE CIVET 5 ARR; WHAT TO EXPECT FOR ALT CLRNC; AND HOW WE SHOULD MANAGE THE FCP. THE FO THEN BRIEFED THE ILS RWY 24R; AS I HAD SET IT IN THE FMS PER THE LATEST INFO. I PRESET THE SECONDARY FLT PLAN FOR RWY 25L AS BACKUP. PRIOR TO GRAMM INTXN; SOCAL APCH CLRED US 'TO DSND VIA THE CIVET 5; EXPECT THE ILS 25L.' I SET 7000 FT IN THE ALT WINDOW OF THE FCP DUE TO THE ALT RESTR AT FUELR INTXN; AND ACTIVATED THE SECONDARY FLT PLAN FOR RWY 25L. THE FO AND I VERIFIED THE XING RESTRS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CIVET 5 ARR. BTWN EDDSO AND LUVYN INTXNS; I HARD TUNED THE ILS TO RWY 25L FOR REF. PRIOR TO REACHING FUELR INTXN; SOCAL APCH CLRED US FOR THE ILS RWY 25L. I SET 1900 FT IN THE ALT WINDOW OF THE FCP; AND VERIFIED THE ENTRY WITH THE FO AS PER THE GS INTERCEPTION ALT AT LIMMA INTXN. WE WERE ALSO ASSIGNED 200 KTS BY SOCAL APCH. AFTER PASSING GAATE INTXN; SOCAL APCH INSTRUCTED US TO MAINTAIN 3500 FT AND 'SET UP FOR THE ILS 25R.' I RESET THE ALT WINDOW IN THE FCP TO 3500 FT AND THE FO VERIFIED IT. I SELECTED THE ILS RWY 25R AND INSERTED IT INTO THE FLT PLAN. DUE TO A WAYPOINT BEHIND THE ACFT POS; THE ACFT STARTED A 30 DEG BANK L TURN. THE FO REALIZED THE DEV IMMEDIATELY AND DISCONNECTED THE AUTOPLT TO MAINTAIN HDG AND ALT. THE FO BRIEFED THE APCH AND NOTED THE CHANGE IN BARO SETTING; WHICH WAS CHANGED ON BOTH FCP CTLS. WE ALSO OBSERVED SHELL; FOGLA; AND GRIMY INTXN IN THE FMS. I SET 1900 FT IN THE ALT WINDOW OF THE FCP AGAIN; AS THAT IS THE GS INTERCEPTION HT AT FOGLA INTXN FOR RWY 25R. IT WAS VERIFIED BY THE FO. I ASSISTED THE FO IN LOSING ALT BY SETTING APPROX -1000 FPM WITH THE SCROLL WHEEL. THE FO ASKED FOR CONFIGN OF THE ACFT; AND I AGREED AND COMPLIED. CTLR STATED 'CLRED FOR THE APCH AND CONTACT TWR.' THE FO ASKED FOR; AND I SELECTED THE APCH-LAND PUSHBUTTON ON THE FCP. THE LOC AND GS CAPTURED; AND WE COMPLETED THE BEFORE LNDG CHKLIST. THE FO HAD THE ACFT STABILIZED IN AIRSPD; GS; AND LOC BY 1900 FT. AS I CONTACTED THE TWR; I WAS STILL SETTING THE MISSED APCH SETTING IN THE FCP. I READ BACK THE LNDG CLRNC; BUT WAS CONCENTRATING ON THE FO HAND-FLYING AN ILS IN IMC CONDITIONS. AT 1000 FT; I CALLED AND VERIFIED MISSED APCH SET. AT 600 FT; I CALLED 'APCH LIGHTS IN SIGHT;' AND THE FO CALLED 'CONTINUING;' AS HE LATER INDICATED HE DID NOT HAVE THE APCH LIGHTING SYS IN SIGHT. THE 500 FT CALL WAS NORMAL IN AIRSPD AND SINK RATE. THERE WERE NO OTHER CALLS FROM LAX TWR FOR ENTIRETY OF THE APCH. SHORTLY AFTER THE 500 FT CALL; THE FO CALLED THE RWY IN SIGHT AND; 'TAKING OVER VISUALLY.' I SILENTLY RECONFIRMED BEING ON GS AND LOC; AND THE NEEDLES WERE CTRED. THE AIRSPD WAS ON BUG. AFTER LNDG ROLLOUT; WE CLRED THE RWY TO THE R AND HELD BEHIND AN AIRBUS 320. AS WE WERE GIVEN TAXI INSTRUCTIONS; THE GND CTLR ASKED US TO CALL TWR FOR POSSIBLE PLTDEV. AFTER THE ACFT WAS PARKED AT THE GATE AND APPROPRIATE CHKLISTS WERE COMPLETE; I CALLED THE NUMBER AND TALKED TO A TWR CTLR WHO INFORMED ME THAT WE HAD LANDED ON RWY 25L; WITH A LNDG CLRNC FOR RWY 25R. I EXPLAINED THE POOR HANDLING BY SOCAL APCH CLOSE TO THE ARPT ENVIRONMENT; BUT HE SIMPLY GAVE ME THE NUMBER TO SOCAL APCH. HE STATED THAT NO MEN; EQUIP; OR OTHER ACFT WERE IN OR NEAR RWY 25L AND THAT IT WAS OPEN BUT THAT HE WAS FILING A 'PRELIMINARY PLTDEV RPT' WITH THE LOS ANGELES FSDO. THE EVENT OCCURRED DUE TO THE DISTRS OF CHANGING MULTIPLE APCHS CLOSE TO THE ARPT; POOR CTLR HANDLING OF OUR ACFT; AND THE FAILURE TO DECLINE A SUB-STANDARD CLRNC. WE WERE WELL AHEAD OF THE ACFT UNTIL THE LATE CHANGE IN RWY ASSIGNMENT. THE CTLR FAILED TO ANALYZE OUR POS IN RELATION TO THE RWY ENVIRONMENT; FAILED TO GIVE VECTORS OR XREF INFO; SUCH AS 'X MI FROM THE XXX FIX.' THE LAX TWR CTLR FAILED TO MONITOR OUR PROGRESS WHILE WE WERE IN IMC CONDITIONS. I FAILED TO MAINTAIN MAX SITUATIONAL AWARENESS; TO DECLINE A SUBSTANDARD CLRNC; AND FAILED TO ASK FOR VECTORS BACK TO THE APCH. AS FAR AS THE AUTOMATION; MY ONLY PRESUMPTIONS ARE THAT THE LOC FOR RWY 25L WAS STILL CAPTURED; AND WE WERE DISTR BY THE ACFT DEV DUE TO THE RWY CHANGE. ALSO; THE HARD TUNING OF THE RWY 25L LOC IN NAV-RAD PAGE MAY HAVE HAD AN IMPACT. BEING MORE DEFENSIVE IN THE CARE OF THE ACFT IN DIFFICULT ATC SITS WOULD RELIEVE THE CREW FROM RUSHING INTO A SIT. SOCAL IS CONGESTED AIRSPACE; THEY USE NONSTANDARD PHRASEOLOGY; AND REPOSITIONING ACFT FOR AN APCH CAUSES HUGE PROBS. LAX TWR CTLRS SEEMED AS UNAWARE OF OUR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AS WE WERE. THEY ONLY SAID SOMETHING AFTER IT WAS ALL OVER. THERE WAS NEVER A QUERY OF OUR POS; OR A GAR INSTRUCTION.

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