Narrative:

Captain was flying pilot. We were progressing on the swfft one arrival to bna/runway 31. ATC cleared us to the onuge intersection and to track in the localizer to 31; which we did. An opening in the cloud base gave us a view to a runway 31. I reported to tower field was in sight. Tower immediately replied cleared the visual approach to runway 31. Aircraft was level at 4;000 feet MSL and the glideslope had not even started to come down. Visually the runway appeared in front of us through the broken layer of clouds. We were getting much too high for a stable approach. I stated to the captain something was wrong; but I was confused by what I saw outside and what the ILS was telling me. Captain called for the gear down and I lowered the gear handle. I think the captain keyed the radio and told the bna tower we were too high for the runway and turned the aircraft to the left; off the localizer. We might have lost 100 in altitude as well; but the tower responded that we were not high and asked if we were lining up on smyrna's runway? Captain immediately turned the aircraft back to the right and centered up the localizer again. He quickly climbed back to 4;000 ft and followed the ILS approach to runway 31. I responded to the tower something like; 'yes; we lined up on the wrong runway.' at that point; I could see bna airport further ahead on the horizon. We flew the visual approach to runway 31 at bna with no further incident. We rushed through the instrument briefing prior to our descent into nashville. It was the first time for me to fly that arrival from the southeast and land on runway 31. The captain failed to mention there was a note on the approach plate about confusing mqy runway for bna's runway ten miles to the southeast. I failed to see the same warning too. Every approach should be given enough thought about what could happen besides the standard mechanics of localizer frequency; inbound course; runway elevation; etc.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew; cleared for a visual approach to Runway 31 at BNA; confused MQY for BNA until advised by ATC.

Narrative: Captain was flying pilot. We were progressing on the SWFFT ONE Arrival to BNA/Runway 31. ATC cleared us to the ONUGE intersection and to track in the Localizer to 31; which we did. An opening in the cloud base gave us a view to a Runway 31. I reported to Tower field was in sight. Tower immediately replied cleared the visual approach to Runway 31. Aircraft was level at 4;000 feet MSL and the glideslope had not even started to come down. Visually the runway appeared in front of us through the broken layer of clouds. We were getting much too high for a stable approach. I stated to the Captain something was wrong; but I was confused by what I saw outside and what the ILS was telling me. Captain called for the gear down and I lowered the gear handle. I think the Captain keyed the radio and told the BNA Tower we were too high for the runway and turned the aircraft to the left; off the Localizer. We might have lost 100 in altitude as well; but the Tower responded that we were not high and asked if we were lining up on Smyrna's runway? Captain immediately turned the aircraft back to the right and centered up the Localizer again. He quickly climbed back to 4;000 FT and followed the ILS approach to Runway 31. I responded to the Tower something like; 'Yes; we lined up on the wrong runway.' At that point; I could see BNA Airport further ahead on the horizon. We flew the visual approach to Runway 31 at BNA with no further incident. We rushed through the instrument briefing prior to our descent into Nashville. It was the first time for me to fly that arrival from the southeast and land on Runway 31. The Captain failed to mention there was a note on the approach plate about confusing MQY Runway for BNA's runway ten miles to the southeast. I failed to see the same warning too. Every approach should be given enough thought about what could happen besides the standard mechanics of Localizer frequency; inbound course; runway elevation; etc.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.