2008-03 · NASA ASRS report 780423
A GLASAIR PILOT FAILED TO SWITCH COM 1 FREQ AND APCHED A RWY AT AN ARPT OTHER THAN HIS DEST. PILOT WENT AROUND AFTER NO ATC LNDG CLRNC.
I DEPARTED ZZZ1; MADE A R TURN OUT (E) TO DEST ZZZ ABOUT 15 MI DISTANCE. I USED THE 'AUTO DIAL' FEATURE ON MY GARMIN TO SELECT THE ZZZ1 TWR FREQ. I EVIDENTLY DIDN'T PUSH THE XFER SWITCH HARD ENOUGH TO PROPERLY XFER THE FREQ TO ZZZ. TURB MAY HAVE BEEN A FACTOR. I CHKED THE ZZZ ATIS ON #2 RADIO AND THEY WERE LNDG N ON RWY XX. I THEN CALLED ZZZ AND STATED 'TWR ACFT X; 8 W WITH ATIS INFO; LNDG.' THE TWR RESPONDED WITH 'ENTER MIDFIELD DOWNWIND; LNDG RWY XY' (I DIDN'T CATCH THE RWY XY STATEMENT). I RPTED MIDFIELD DOWNWIND AND THE TWR RESPONDED WITH 'YOU'RE FOLLOWING A C182; RPT HIM IN SIGHT.' I LOOKED AND FOUND A CESSNA JUST TURNING 'BASE.' I STATED; I HAVE THE CESSNA IN SIGHT; TWR SAID 'FOLLOW HIM.' I FLEW A NORMAL PATTERN AND FOLLOWED THE CESSNA. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY INCLINATION THAT I WASN'T TALKING WITH THE ZZZ TWR UNTIL I COULDN'T GET A RESPONSE FOR 'CLRNC TO LAND' SO I WENT AROUND FOLLOWING THE CESSNA AND THEN FLEW TO THE NW OUT OF THE PATTERN. I FIGURED I HAD A RADIO FAILURE OR SOME SUCH THING. IT WAS ONLY AFTER TRYING TO COMMUNICATE AGAIN THAT THEY ASKED ME TO 'IDENT.' I DID SO AND REALIZED THAT I WAS ON ZZZ1 TWR AS ZZZ DOESN'T HAVE RADAR IN THE TWR. I CHKED THE FREQ IN THE 'ACTIVE' POS AND REALIZED I WAS STILL ON ZZZ1 TWR. A PUSH AGAIN OF THE BUTTON XFERRED ME TO ZZZ FREQ. I LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT AND CALLED THE TWR BY PHONE. I STATED TO ATC IN THE TWR THAT IN 50 YRS OF FLYING; I HAD NEVER DONE SUCH A STUPID THING. THEY WERE CONCERNED THAT I HAD ENTERED THE 'CLASS D' WITHOUT CLRNC. ATC STATED THAT I HAD MADE A REAL MESS THAT THEY WERE STILL TRYING TO RECOVER FROM WITH SO MANY ON A SUNNY AFTERNOON. I THINK IF ZZZ1 TWR HAD EITHER TOLD ME THEY WERE ZZZ1 AND NOT ZZZ OR THAT I HAD THE WRONG ATIS; I WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY DISCOVERED MY ERROR. THE GEOGRAPHY AROUND THE ZZZ1 ARPT IS SUCH THAT THE TWR MAY NOT SEE ACFT AT THE POS I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN ONE BASE/FINAL. IT WAS COINCIDENCE THAT A CESSNA WAS R DOWNWIND JUST AS I SAW OUT MY WINDOW AT ZZZ. I SHOULD HAVE CAUGHT THE RWY XY INSTEAD OF RWY XX XMISSION. TURB WAS A FACTOR IN MY NOT PUSHING THE 'XFER' BUTTON HARD ENOUGH FOR FREQ XFER. I HAD WITNESSED A TWR RADIO FAILURE AT ZZZ ONE DAY LAST FALL AND WONDERED IF IT HAD HAPPENED AGAIN. MY ERROR WAS THAT I PUSHED THE XFER BUTTON AND DIDN'T CHK TO SEE WHAT THE RESPONSE WAS ON THE RADIO. THE OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IS THAT THIS WAS THE NORMAL COM; TFC PATTERN ENTRY; LANGUAGE USED SO I DIDN'T SUSPECT ANYTHING WRONG.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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