Narrative:

First officer flying the aircraft. I asked for a visibility approach upon passing psp VOR and spotting the psp beacon. First officer was unsure of airport position, so I directed him towards what I thought were the lights psp to set up a right base turn at 800' afl for runway 30. At 1000' afl I told him to turn toward the airport. He said, 'I don't see it, you have the airplane.' I asked the tower to turn the lights up to full intensity. I was then that I realized I had turned the aircraft initially in the descent toward cathedral city rather than the city lights of psp. The turn toward the airport thus was about 5 mi from my intended right turn into runway 30. I did not monitor the DME from thermal although we had set up the navigation radios to the thermal 292 degree right to back up the visibility approach. By now the aircraft was approaching 600' afl. I leveled off and flew visually to the airport at 600' afl. I did not change the landing confign of the aircraft so as not to alarm passenger. Another consideration was the stage 3 noise capability of the S-80 which made the dirty confign high drag approach to the airport acceptable, but certainly not desirable. Landing was uneventful. First officer was very unhappy with the descent and approach. I apologized and told him I certainly accepted his criticism, because it was certainly warranted. I have made numerous visibility approachs to psp both day and night. I did not stay with the airport beacon in the descent and did not monitor the thermal DME and was thus led to the brighter city lights of cathedral city.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR MLG MADE A VISUAL APCH AT NIGHT TOWARD CITY LIGHTS, BUT THE LIGHTS WERE FOR THE WRONG CITY. FLT CREW CONTINUED A LOW DRAG IN APCH AT 600' AGL.

Narrative: F/O FLYING THE ACFT. I ASKED FOR A VIS APCH UPON PASSING PSP VOR AND SPOTTING THE PSP BEACON. F/O WAS UNSURE OF ARPT POS, SO I DIRECTED HIM TOWARDS WHAT I THOUGHT WERE THE LIGHTS PSP TO SET UP A RIGHT BASE TURN AT 800' AFL FOR RWY 30. AT 1000' AFL I TOLD HIM TO TURN TOWARD THE ARPT. HE SAID, 'I DON'T SEE IT, YOU HAVE THE AIRPLANE.' I ASKED THE TWR TO TURN THE LIGHTS UP TO FULL INTENSITY. I WAS THEN THAT I REALIZED I HAD TURNED THE ACFT INITIALLY IN THE DSCNT TOWARD CATHEDRAL CITY RATHER THAN THE CITY LIGHTS OF PSP. THE TURN TOWARD THE ARPT THUS WAS ABOUT 5 MI FROM MY INTENDED RIGHT TURN INTO RWY 30. I DID NOT MONITOR THE DME FROM THERMAL ALTHOUGH WE HAD SET UP THE NAV RADIOS TO THE THERMAL 292 DEG R TO BACK UP THE VIS APCH. BY NOW THE ACFT WAS APCHING 600' AFL. I LEVELED OFF AND FLEW VISUALLY TO THE ARPT AT 600' AFL. I DID NOT CHANGE THE LNDG CONFIGN OF THE ACFT SO AS NOT TO ALARM PAX. ANOTHER CONSIDERATION WAS THE STAGE 3 NOISE CAPABILITY OF THE S-80 WHICH MADE THE DIRTY CONFIGN HIGH DRAG APCH TO THE ARPT ACCEPTABLE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT DESIRABLE. LNDG WAS UNEVENTFUL. F/O WAS VERY UNHAPPY WITH THE DSCNT AND APCH. I APOLOGIZED AND TOLD HIM I CERTAINLY ACCEPTED HIS CRITICISM, BECAUSE IT WAS CERTAINLY WARRANTED. I HAVE MADE NUMEROUS VIS APCHS TO PSP BOTH DAY AND NIGHT. I DID NOT STAY WITH THE ARPT BEACON IN THE DSCNT AND DID NOT MONITOR THE THERMAL DME AND WAS THUS LED TO THE BRIGHTER CITY LIGHTS OF CATHEDRAL CITY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.