Narrative:

Air carrier X cleared to descend to 3000' MSL and intercept the ILS for 23L, however, we were never cleared for the approach. After awhile I saw that they had indeed forgotten about us so I called, as it was too late to complete the approach. We ended up over the airport at 3000' MSL. When they realized that they had forgotten us, they sent us out southwest of the airport for a re-vector. In the meantime they changed runways from 23L to 5R and neglected to tell us of this fact. When they turned us around to 070 degree they told us to intercept the localizer and cleared us for the approach. You can imagine our wonderment at this clearance because here we were southwest of cle airport, thinking we were being vectored for an ILS to 23L and they put us on a 070 degree heading for the intercept. Naturally, we asked how we could possibly get on the 23L ILS without clearance and they said, 'oh, you're going to do a 5R ILS.' our reply, 'great, thanks for the information. Nobody told us'. We had to scramble to get the different approach plates out, and a review next to impossible. Fortunately we were already familiar with the 5R approach. Again, the frequencys were congested and they simply were saturated. This makes mistakes more likely.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: 2 OPERATIONAL DEVIATIONS. CTLR FAILED TO ISSUE APCH CLRNC IN A TIMELY MANNER. CTLR FAILED TO STATE ILS APCH RWY ACFT BEING VECTORED TO.

Narrative: ACR X CLRED TO DSND TO 3000' MSL AND INTERCEPT THE ILS FOR 23L, HOWEVER, WE WERE NEVER CLRED FOR THE APCH. AFTER AWHILE I SAW THAT THEY HAD INDEED FORGOTTEN ABOUT US SO I CALLED, AS IT WAS TOO LATE TO COMPLETE THE APCH. WE ENDED UP OVER THE ARPT AT 3000' MSL. WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT THEY HAD FORGOTTEN US, THEY SENT US OUT SW OF THE ARPT FOR A RE-VECTOR. IN THE MEANTIME THEY CHANGED RWYS FROM 23L TO 5R AND NEGLECTED TO TELL US OF THIS FACT. WHEN THEY TURNED US AROUND TO 070 DEG THEY TOLD US TO INTERCEPT THE LOC AND CLRED US FOR THE APCH. YOU CAN IMAGINE OUR WONDERMENT AT THIS CLRNC BECAUSE HERE WE WERE SW OF CLE ARPT, THINKING WE WERE BEING VECTORED FOR AN ILS TO 23L AND THEY PUT US ON A 070 DEG HDG FOR THE INTERCEPT. NATURALLY, WE ASKED HOW WE COULD POSSIBLY GET ON THE 23L ILS WITHOUT CLRNC AND THEY SAID, 'OH, YOU'RE GOING TO DO A 5R ILS.' OUR REPLY, 'GREAT, THANKS FOR THE INFO. NOBODY TOLD US'. WE HAD TO SCRAMBLE TO GET THE DIFFERENT APCH PLATES OUT, AND A REVIEW NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE. FORTUNATELY WE WERE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE 5R APCH. AGAIN, THE FREQS WERE CONGESTED AND THEY SIMPLY WERE SATURATED. THIS MAKES MISTAKES MORE LIKELY.

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.