An aircraft on approach to cef was unable to land because the airport was closed and neither ATC nor...

Narrative:

Cef apparently has operating hours we were not aware of. Nothing noted in NOTAM package or our station guide noting operational hours. Also; on the jeppessen approach charts; a CTAF frequency is noted leading you to believe the airfield is CTAF operational....it is not. Bradley approach also must have thought cef was CTAF operational as they cleared us a visual to runway 23. Everything sounded fine for us except....no pilot controlled lighting (not designated but I would assume operational for a CTAF; no operational ILS to runway 23 (not notamed out); also; I queried bradley about swapping over to CTAF 134.85 and was told we could stay on 119.9. This was confusing as well. We had been trying to contact the airfield ops on 122.95 on our secondary VHF 15 to 20 minutes prior to arrival to no avail. Luckily we had this frequency up on secondary and got the call for a go around from airfield ops on his ramp radio. At that point we were informed the airfield was closed and we later found out not CTAF operational. We performed a go around and held at chester until the field opened later that morning.1. Better planning on our part. I am sure the IFR supplement or airport facility would reflect operating hours.2. If a field is not CTAF operational; why put a CTAF frequency reference on the approach plate? This sets aircrews up for failure.3. Approach control should be more aware of CTAF operational fields in their area.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An aircraft on approach to CEF was unable to land because the airport was closed and neither ATC nor the company Dispatch were aware the closure. On short final with no ILS; PAPI or Runway lighting the crew was told to go around and hold until the airport opened.

Narrative: CEF apparently has operating hours we were not aware of. Nothing noted in NOTAM package or our Station Guide noting operational hours. Also; on the Jeppessen Approach charts; a CTAF frequency is noted leading you to believe the airfield is CTAF operational....it is not. Bradley Approach also must have thought CEF was CTAF operational as they cleared us a visual to Runway 23. Everything sounded fine for us except....no pilot controlled lighting (not designated but I would assume operational for a CTAF; no operational ILS to RWY 23 (not NOTAMed out); Also; I queried Bradley about swapping over to CTAF 134.85 and was told we could stay on 119.9. This was confusing as well. We had been trying to contact the airfield ops on 122.95 on our secondary VHF 15 to 20 minutes prior to arrival to no avail. Luckily we had this frequency up on secondary and got the call for a go around from airfield ops on his ramp radio. At that point we were informed the airfield was closed and we later found out not CTAF operational. We performed a go around and held at Chester until the field opened later that morning.1. Better planning on our part. I am sure the IFR Supplement or Airport Facility would reflect operating hours.2. IF a field is not CTAF operational; why put a CTAF Frequency reference on the approach plate? This sets aircrews up for failure.3. Approach Control should be more aware of CTAF operational fields in their area.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1265050
Time
Date	201505
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	BDL.Airport
State Reference	CT
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach Initial Approach
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain Check Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Relief Pilot First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach

An aircraft on approach to cef was unable to land because the airport was closed and neither ATC nor the company dispatch were aware the closure. On short final with no ILS; PAPI or runway lighting the crew was told to go around and hold until the airport opened.