PLT OPERATING VFR LANDED AT AN ARPT WHICH HAD BEEN NOTAMED CLOSED.

Date: 2008-03 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer · Phase: landing

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

Synopsis

PLT OPERATING VFR LANDED AT AN ARPT WHICH HAD BEEN NOTAMED CLOSED.

Narrative

IT WAS RPTED TO ME THAT I MADE AN ILLEGAL LNDG AT THIS ARPT DURING A TIME WHEN THE ARPT RWY HAD BEEN NOTAMED AS CLOSED. I BELIEVE THAT I DID NOT MAKE AN ILLEGAL LNDG NOR MAKE A RWY INCURSION ON A CLOSED RWY BECAUSE THE RWY WAS NOT PROPERLY MARKED AS BEING CLOSED. ON THE DAY IN QUESTION; I WAS PROCEEDING TO BORREGO SPRINGS IN VFR CONDITIONS. THE DISTANCE TO BORREGO SPRINGS (L08) IS 48 NM. THE WX WAS CAVU. I LISTENED TO (AND RECEIVED ON MY ACFT RADIO) THE BORREGO VALLEY AWOS WX FROM A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 20 MI. NO SPECIAL INFO (REGARDING A CLOSED RWY) WAS INCLUDED ON THE XMISSION. I THEN FOLLOWED WITH A CALL FOR ARPT ADVISORIES BECAUSE AN AEROBATIC BOX IS LOCATED TO THE N OF THE FIELD WHICH; WHEN ACTIVE; REQUIRES A NONSTANDARD R-HAND LNDG TFC PATTERN. I RECEIVED NO REPLY AFTER MY FIRST REQUEST FOR LNDG ADVISORIES. AGAIN; APPROX 9 MI FROM THE ARPT (GPS) I REQUESTED ADVISORIES AND AGAIN RECEIVED NO REPLY. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING I NOTICED A SLIGHT BACKGROUND NOISE ON MY RADIO WHICH WAS PUZZLING. IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT THE PERSON WORKING THE TERMINAL COULD HAVE BEEN REFUELING A PLANE AND; THEREFORE; UNAVAILABLE TO RESPOND ON THE RADIO. I HAD DECIDED TO FOLLOW THE 'GPS WAAS' APCH TO THE ARPT AND CONTINUED E TO START MY VERT DSCNT. AS I LINED UP ON THE FINAL APCH PATH; I ANNOUNCED ON THE CTAF THAT I WAS ON THE GPS 26 APCH ARRIVING FROM THE E TO MAKE A STRAIGHT-IN LNDG ON RWY 26. AGAIN; NO RESPONSE FROM THE ARPT OPERATOR NOR ANY OF THE RADIO-EQUIPPED WORKERS ON THE ARPT. AS I APCHED THE RWY 26 NUMBERS; I NOTICED HEADLIGHTS AT THE DISTANT END OF THE RWY. I ASSUMED THESE LIGHTS CAME FROM A TRUCK WORKING ON AN EXPANSION OF THE RUN-UP AREA ON THE W END OF RWY 8. SECONDS AFTER I LANDED; I RECEIVED A MESSAGE FROM THE TERMINAL OPERATOR THAT I SHOULD RPT TO THE OFFICE AS I HAD JUST LANDED ON A CLOSED RWY. AT THIS TIME I WAS ADVISED THAT A NOTAM HAD BEEN ISSUED THE PREVIOUS DAY REGARDING RWY CLOSURES ON THE NEXT 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS FOR RWY WORK. AT NO TIME DURING MY APCH DID I NOTICE ANY TFC; PERSONNEL OR MACHINERY WHICH WOULD INTERFERE WITH A SAFE LNDG OR PUT ANY PERSON OR PIECE OF EQUIP IN JEOPARDY. SEVERAL MINS LATER ANOTHER PLANE NEGOTIATED A PERMISSION TO LAND TELLING THE ARPT PERSONNEL HE WOULD NEED ONLY THE FIRST PART OF THE RWY AND WOULD BE CLR AT THE FIRST OFF RAMP. WHILE STANDING IN THE TERMINAL OFFICE I NOTICED A PICKUP TRUCK RAPIDLY MOVING FROM THE W END OF THE RWY TO THE E END OF THE RWY WITH A LARGE YELLOW 'X' IN ITS BED. IF THERE WAS AN 'X' LOCATED ON THE BEGINNING OF RWY 8 IT WAS NOT WITHIN MY VIEW FROM THE AIR ON APCH AS MY COURSE WAS SEVERAL MI S FROM THE ARPT. ARE MAINT PERSONNEL AWARE OF THE NEED TO PROPERLY IDENT A CLOSED RWY -- USING A STANDARD AND EASILY SEEN 'X' PLACED ON BOTH ENDS OF A CLOSED RWY -- AND THAT A RWY IS NOT CLOSED UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THESE MARKERS ARE PROPERLY SITUATED? DO SUPPORT PERSONNEL BELIEVE THAT ONCE A NOTAM IS PUBLISHED ALL PLTS ARE AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE? IS IT UNDERSTOOD THAT VFR FLT DOES NOT REQUIRE THE PLT TO FILE A FLT PLAN AND IT WOULD BE (IS) VERY POSSIBLE THAT THE INFO CONTAINED IN A NOTAM NEVER BECOMES KNOWN TO A PLT. NOTAMS ARE JUST AN ATTEMPT TO DISSEMINATE INFO AND SIGNIFICANT EFFORT IS REQUIRED TO LEARN ABOUT THEM.

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