2008-11 · NASA ASRS report 814017
PILOT OF SMALL TURBOJET TRANSPORT LANDS TO THE SIDE OF THE SNOW COVERED RUNWAY AT BJJ. CITES PHOTOCELL OPERATED RUNWAY LIGHTS AS A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE.
PRIOR TO BEGINNING THE GPS RWY 28 APCH TO WAYNE COUNTY ARPT (BJJ) I OBTAINED THE AWOS RPT AND CALLED UNICOM FOR A RWY CONDITION RPT AS IT HAD BEEN SNOWING. SOMEONE REPLIED 'IT'S WET' (THIS LED ME TO BELIEVE I WOULD SEE A DARK RWY SURFACE AGAINST SNOW COVERED SURROUNDINGS). ALSO I WAS EXPECTING TO SEE RWY LIGHTS AS THERE WAS A NOTAM FOR PLT CTLED LIGHTING OTS BUT MEDIUM INTENSITY LIGHTS ON CONTINUOUSLY. UPON REACHING THE MDA I WAS ABLE TO SEE THE ARPT FROM 1-1 1/2 MI OUT. THE ARPT WAS SNOW COVERED EXCEPT FOR 1 DARK STRIP WITH PATCHY SNOW WHICH I BELIEVED TO BE RWY 28. THERE WERE NO RWY LIGHTS ON. JUST AS I TOUCHED DOWN I REALIZED WE WERE ACTUALLY ON THE GRASS BTWN RWY 28 AND THE PARALLEL TXWY (BOTH WERE COMPLETELY SNOW COVERED). AS WE DECELERATED I MANEUVERED THE ACFT TO THE R ONTO RWY 28 AND IN DOING SO APPARENTLY CONTACTED A RWY EDGE LIGHT WITH 1 BLADE ON THE L HAND PROP ASSEMBLY. ON THE TAXI BACK TO THE FBO THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF ANYTHING ABNORMAL WITH THE ACFT. AFTER SHUTTING DOWN AND CHKING THE AIRPLANE I FOUND THE DAMAGE TO THE PROP BLADE. THERE WAS NO OTHER DAMAGE. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. AFTER SPEAKING WITH ARPT PERSONNEL I LEARNED THAT THE RWY LIGHTING IS ACTUALLY ON A 'PHOTOCELL' DEVICE THAT TURNS THE RWY LIGHTS ON ONLY WHEN IT IS DARK ENOUGH. I STRONGLY BELIEVE HAD THE RWY LIGHTS BEEN ON; THE RWY WOULD HAVE BEEN UNMISTAKABLE FROM THE SURROUNDINGS AND THIS INCIDENT WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED. ALSO NOTE THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AT BJJ; REF ASRS RPT #640376. I HOPE THIS RPT HELPS IN THE EVAL AND CORRECTION OF THE LIGHTING SYS AT BJJ TO MAKE IT SAFER FOR FUTURE USERS OF THE ARPT ESPECIALLY DURING WINTER OPS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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