GA WRONG ARPT LNDG FOLLOWED BY OFF ARPT LNDG AS PLT TRIED TO PROCEED TO DESTINATION ARPT.

1988-10 · NASA ASRS report 97126

Date: 1988-10 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-landing-without-clearance|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit|other-unspecified

Synopsis

GA WRONG ARPT LNDG FOLLOWED BY OFF ARPT LNDG AS PLT TRIED TO PROCEED TO DESTINATION ARPT.

Narrative

I TOPPED OFF ALL 4 TANKS AND TOOK OFF FOR EL PASO; TX. 2 HRS AND 38 MINS LATER OVER ABILENE; TX; I CHANGED MY LEFT ENG FUEL. 3 HRS LATER I CHANGED MY RIGHT ENG FUEL. I ARRIVED OUTSIDE EL PASO ARSA AFTER 4:22 OF FLYING. I HAD CALLED THE EL PASO CTL TWR BUT RECEIVED NO ANSWER. MY WACK CHART SHOWED 4 SMALL ARPTS IN THE AREA SO I STARTED CIRCLING THE ARSA LOOKING FOR THESE SMALL ARPTS. THE ONLY ONE I SAW TURNED OUT TO BE BIGGS AFB; WHICH I HAD NOT SEEN AS SUCH ON MY MAPS. I WAS AWARE MY FUEL WAS BECOMING VERY LOW ON MY LEFT ENG AND AFTER WATCHING A JET ACFT TKOF FROM BIGGS DECIDED TO LAND THERE. AFTER LNDG AND TAXIING TOWARD WHAT LOOKED LIKE AN ABANDONED OPS; I RECEIVED 2 RED LIGHTS FROM THE TWR. I STOPPED AND A VAN APPEARED AND INFORMED ME A MIL FIELD. I TOLD HIM I WAS OUT OF FUEL ON LEFT ENG. HE ASKED IF I HAD ENOUGH FUEL FOR 1 OR 2 MINS FLT TO ELP. I SAID YES BY USING MY XFEED. I SAID I DID NOT HAVE RADIO CONTACT WITH ELP. HE HELPED ME ESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT BY TELLING ME TO USE 126.7 INSTEAD OF 118.3. HE ORDERED ME TO TAKE OFF AND SLAMMED MY DOOR SHUT. IN THE EXCITEMENT I FORGOT TO LOCK THE DOOR. I TOOK OFF AND BEFORE I COULD RAISE MY GEAR MY LEFT ENG BEGAN TO FAIL. I SWITCHED XFEED AND BOUNCED BACK ON RWY. I BOUNCED 10' INTO AIR AND LEFT ENG TOOK HOLD. I STARTED A LEFT TURN 180 DEGS TO BRING ME IN LINE WITH APCH TO ELP. I WAS TALKING TO EPL CTL TWR WHEN DOOR FLEW OPEN AND I HAD TO REDUCE PWR FULLY TO HOLD NOSE IN GLIDE POS. I INFORMED TWR I WAS GOING DOWN. I MISSED WIRES BY INCHES AND LANDED IN FIELD OF HIGH GRASS. I CLOSED DOOR AND LOCKED IT; TURNED AROUND AND TOOK OFF IN SAME TRACKS. I CALLED ELP AND LANDED; TAXIED AND PARKED. I PUT 142 GALS FUEL IN 144 GAL TANKS. I CALLED FAA AND RPTED THIS. I TOOK OFF AND RETURNED TO CA. AT THIS POINT THE FAA HAS ORDERED A 609 EXAM OF MY FLYING COMPETENCY. QUESTION: HAVE THEY ORDERED A COMPETENCY TEST OF ELP CTL TWR OR BIGGS AFB?

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

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