A student pilot became NORDO in an airport traffic pattern and apparently could not see the tower's ...

Attributes
ACN	1004009
Time
Date	201204
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 152
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	VHF
Person 1
Function	Instructor
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60 Flight Crew Total 780 Flight Crew Type 300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Miss Distance	Horizontal 250 Vertical 50

Narrative:

Student pilot conducting solo operations on left pattern on runway 17L; on 5th touch-and-go; student pilot went lost comm. Student then proceeded to make missed approaches. After the 4th missed approach; emergency trucks were dispatched to runway 17L. On 5th approach; student switched to runway 17R; cutting off a md-80 that was on final approach. Md-80 conducted a go-around; and student conducted go around operation. Student made right traffic and made a normal landing on runway 17R. Once on the ground; student claimed that he was unable to see the tower lights from runway 17L; therefore he switched to runway 17R to attempt to see lights better. Radio was found to be inoperative when student landed the aircraft. I think several contributing factors exacerbated the events. The extremely bright sun reflecting off of the pavement could have rendered the tower lights [difficult to see] from left pattern on runway 17L. Previously; other pilots have reported difficulty in seeing tower lights during daylight operations; including one instructor who asked tower to demo the light for the student. Additionally; the decision to continue the approach with the md-80 after the emergency was declared by tower for the student caused unsafe conditions. The student was maneuvering to the extent necessary to meet the emergency and the airspace was not cleared for him. Tower had cleared the md-80 to land with a precaution that a student was lost comm in the left pattern on the parallel runway. Human performance considerations could include; but may not be limited to: heat from the day; bright light from daytime operating conditions; tower needs to continue operations despite student emergency; and inability to see tower lights to effectively communicate with lost comm aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A student pilot became NORDO in an airport traffic pattern and apparently could not see the Tower's light signal so after five missed approaches; one including an MD80 near miss; he finally landed.

Narrative: Student pilot conducting solo operations on left pattern on Runway 17L; on 5th touch-and-go; student pilot went lost comm. Student then proceeded to make missed approaches. After the 4th missed approach; emergency trucks were dispatched to Runway 17L. On 5th approach; student switched to Runway 17R; cutting off a MD-80 that was on final approach. MD-80 conducted a go-around; and student conducted go around operation. Student made right traffic and made a normal landing on Runway 17R. Once on the ground; student claimed that he was unable to see the tower lights from Runway 17L; therefore he switched to Runway 17R to attempt to see lights better. Radio was found to be inoperative when student landed the aircraft. I think several contributing factors exacerbated the events. The extremely bright sun reflecting off of the pavement could have rendered the tower lights [difficult to see] from left pattern on Runway 17L. Previously; other pilots have reported difficulty in seeing tower lights during daylight operations; including one instructor who asked Tower to demo the light for the student. Additionally; the decision to continue the approach with the MD-80 after the emergency was declared by Tower for the student caused unsafe conditions. The student was maneuvering to the extent necessary to meet the emergency and the airspace was not cleared for him. Tower had cleared the MD-80 to land with a precaution that a student was lost comm in the left pattern on the parallel runway. Human performance considerations could include; but may not be limited to: heat from the day; bright light from daytime operating conditions; Tower needs to continue operations despite student emergency; and inability to see tower lights to effectively communicate with lost comm aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A student pilot became NORDO in an airport traffic pattern and apparently could not see the tower's light signal so after five missed approaches; one including an MD80 near miss; he finally landed.