Radio altimeter callout distractions and lack of a positive hand off to Tower result in landing without clearance for a B737 flight crew.
Synopsis
Radio altimeter callout distractions and lack of a positive hand off to Tower result in landing without clearance for a B737 flight crew.
Narrative
On vectors for approach to Runway 27 at SAN. Given turn from downwind to base; heading 180. Called traffic on final in sight. Approach shot us thru final and hurriedly gave us a quick; 'Fly heading 270; follow the other carrier; cleared for the approach.' We ended up compensating for Approach's error and corrected back to final. Flew uneventful approach through final configuration. Still not given switch to Tower by Approach; and proceeded down final. SoCal oftentimes gives late switches to Tower at SAN. At the point where we as a crew would normally have noticed the failure to be switched to Tower; the automated callout boomed 'five hundred;' which was a major distraction. I scanned my altimeter; which said 700' MSL (SAN is 9' MSL) to verify something was not amiss. My thoughts automatically went to making sure the altimeter was set properly and crosscheck other instruments. We then got a 'two hundred' call at approximately 350' MSL; again continuing to distract us with erroneous information. From then on I was anticipating what erroneous distracting call might come next while still focusing on the approach. I believe the combination of Approach Control's failure to switch us to Tower and the distractions from the talking radio altimeter prevented us from catching the frequency error. We landed uneventfully and realized our mistake on rollout when preparing to exit the runway. As we switched to Ground; nothing was mentioned and nothing was heard from Tower in the negative. In retrospect; it would be beneficial to the company pilots if we knew walking into the cockpit that the jet has a talking radio Altimeter. Instead we find out on short final during the most critical portion of the flight; when our normal per-the-FOM callouts are interrupted by the unanticipated and distracting automated callouts coming in loud and clear through our headsets. Also tweak the system so that non-precision approaches into airports with terrain don't erroneously start barking out erroneous callouts (i.e. 'five hundred' at 700' MSL for an airport that is essentially sea level). Also; harp on ATC to do positive radio switches to Tower.
Second reporter narrative
We were being vectored for LOC 27 by Approach Control. While on a heading of 180; we were told our sequence was behind another carrier which we called in sight. After being vectored south of the final; we were cleared for the visual approach behind the other carrier. We continued an uneventful visual approach but were not handed over to the Tower. We were distracted once below 1000 FT AGL by the talking radio altimeter. For the first time in 3 legs it called out 500 FT; but we were 700 FT MSL (690 ft AGL). Then it called out 200 FT; but we were 350 FT MSL (340 FT AGL). Initially we thought we had the wrong altimeter setting. On the 2 previous legs; this system did not make a 200 FT or 500 FT callout which added to the confusion. Between not being cleared to contact the Tower and being preoccupied with the talking RA; we did not contact the Tower and landed without a landing clearance. The other carrier was well clear of the runway when we landed. Once clear of the runway; Ground Control cleared us to our gate.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.