A B737 GPWS ALERTED 6 NM EAST OF LAS ON THE RWY 25L ILS. THE CREW DID NOT CONDUCT THE ESCAPE MANEUVER BECAUSE THEY WERE VISUALLY CLEAR.
Synopsis
A B737 GPWS ALERTED 6 NM EAST OF LAS ON THE RWY 25L ILS. THE CREW DID NOT CONDUCT THE ESCAPE MANEUVER BECAUSE THEY WERE VISUALLY CLEAR.
Narrative
APPROX 6 MI E OF RWY 25L AT LAS PERFECTLY ESTABLISHED ON GS FOR RWY 25L WITH RWY IN SIGHT (NIGHT VMC; NO SIGNIFICANT WX); RECEIVED TERRAIN CAUTION FOLLOWED BY TERRAIN PULL UP WARNING. ALL PARAMETERS WERE DOUBLE-CHKED AT THE INITIAL CAUTION. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SHOWED FULL COMPLIANCE WITH ILS STABILIZED PARAMETERS (BOTH ILS'S TUNED; VERIFIED; VISUAL) WITH RWY SHOWED PROPER 'PICTURE' AT 6 MI E OF RWY. ALT WAS CORRECT FOR THAT DISTANCE. ALL INDICATIONS POINTED TO MALFUNCTIONING GPWS SYS. AFTER EVALUATING ALL DATA DECISION WAS MADE TO CONTINUE APCH. REALIZE THIS IS IN CONTRADICTION WITH PROCS; BUT WEIGHED THIS AGAINST RISKS OF ROCKETING UP AT 20 DEGS NOSE UP WITH EMER THRUST CLOSE TO ARPT WITH POSSIBLE OTHER TFC IN VICINITY PLUS OTHER CONSIDERATIONS THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED FROM THIS EMER MANEUVER. PASSED MALFUNCTION INCIDENT ON TO MAINT FOR THE TERMINATOR AND THEY WERE GOING TO CHK IT OUT. I DID NOT WRITE IT IN THE BOOK; AND I BELIEVE I SHOULD HAVE IN RETROSPECT. CALLED OUR UNION FOLLOWING MORNING AND RELATED INCIDENT. HE WAS GOING TO HAVE GPWS UNIT PULLED FOR HONEYWELL INVESTIGATION. IN RETROSPECT; WE HAVE PROCS AND WE HAVE GUIDANCE TO EVAL THE ENTIRE SITUATION AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. THE TRAINING CTR HAS DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB IMPRESSING UPON US THE REACTION REQUIRED IN A PULL-UP SITUATION AND IT IS EASY TO ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACK THIS ONE; BUT IN REALITY; IT WAS NOT AN EASY CALL. PERHAPS I MADE THE WRONG CALL; BUT IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE; I BELIEVE I WOULD PROBABLY DO THE SAME AGAIN.
More incidents for this aircraft family →
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.