1988-12 · NASA ASRS report 99890
ACR HVT WRONG RWY APCH LNDG.
SITUATION: EXPECTING TO LAND ON A 10500' X 150' RWY; WE INSTEAD LANDED ON A PARALLEL 3400' X 60' RWY. EVENTS: WE WERE VECTORED BY CLARK APCH AND CLRED FOR THE VOR RWY 2 APCH. WE MADE VISUAL CONTACT WITH RWY LIGHTS AT APPROX 10 DME (APPROX 7 MI FROM RWY THRESHOLD). CLARK TWR CLRED US TO LAND ON RWY 2. VASI AND APCH LIGHTS WERE OUT. (VASI HAD BEEN OTS FOR AT LEAST 2 DAYS.) THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS: 1) THE 10500' RWY LIGHTS WERE OFF AND 2) THE 3400' RWY LIGHTS WERE ON. OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1) NO MENTION ON COMMERCIAL CHARTS THAT THE PARALLEL RWY HAS LIGHTS. 2) WHILE NOT EXACTLY PROPORTIONAL; THE SHORTER; NARROWER RWY APPEARED NORMAL UNTIL T/D. THINKING I WAS LNDG ON A 10500' X 150' RWY; MY DEPTH PERCEPTION WAS OFF. T/D OCCURRED JUST AS I REALIZED THERE WERE NO RWY MARKINGS. AT THE TIME OF T/D; I THOUGHT I STILL HAD A LOT OF ALT. 3) I DID NOT RECONFIRM THAT APCH LIGHTS WERE OTS. IF I HAD ASKED; THE TWR MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT THEIR MISTAKE AND TURNED ON THE CORRECT LIGHTS. THIS WAS MY BIGGEST ERROR. HOWEVER; WITH THE RWY LIGHTS IN SIGHT FROM SO FAR OUT; I DIDN'T FEEL THAT I NEEDED APCH LIGHTS ANYWAY. SOLUTIONS: 1) CREATE A BACKCOURSE APCH TO THE LONG RWY. 2) MAKE NOTE ON APCH PLATES THAT THE SHORT RWY DOES HAVE LIGHTS. 3) DESIGNATE RWY 2 LEFT AND 2 RIGHT. THIS WILL REINFORCE THE PLT'S KNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE 2 PARALLEL RWYS. THIS INCIDENT COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN THE DAYLIGHT; BUT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN AT NIGHT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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