Narrative:

I departed and subsequently picked up my IFR clearance to rnt from seattle center. The clearance was olm rnt at 16;000 feet. On descent to olm; I was again cleared direct to olm direct rnt and given a crossing restriction 10 south of olm at 10;000 feet.after passing olm and going direct rnt; I was given vectors and descents to coordinate with traffic. I was eventually given a heading and descent to 2;000 feet. The heading appeared to be a good intercept angle for runway 34 at rnt. I began to slow from 200 KTS to 120 KTS. At this time the heading I had been given had taken me to the east of centerline to runway 34 and I was expecting approach to give me a new heading to correct back; as I could see runway 34. Instead I was given 'cleared for the approach to runway 31 do no descend below; 1;600 feet until on the localizer.' I was then given a frequency change to contact the tower; it was not the correct frequency for rnt. At this point it began to be very clear to me that approach control thought my landing airport was bfi; not rnt. How or why; I didn't know. Approach control then gave me a heading north and a frequency for rnt; I entered a right downwind for runway 34 at rnt and landed. On taxi in a rnt ground control gave me a request to call the watch supervisor for approach control and said 'don't let them blame this on you; they keyed in the wrong airport in the computer.' I thanked her and called the supervisor. She explained what happened; took my name and phone number in case there were further questions.in my years of flying I've heard many times about pilots landing at the wrong airport; but never ATC sending you to the wrong airport; especially on an IFR flight plan. As a result I didn't question the clearance I was given; I should have; as this whole exercise could have been avoided. Simply; if you don't understand the clearance; or it doesn't make sense; question it and get a clarification from center; approach control; or tower.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE90 pilot reports filing an IFR flight plan to RNT but during descent; Approach assigns a heading and clears him for the approach to Runway 31 at BFI. Approach Control is advised and vectors are received for a right downwind at RNT.

Narrative: I departed and subsequently picked up my IFR clearance to RNT from Seattle Center. The clearance was OLM RNT at 16;000 feet. On descent to OLM; I was again cleared direct to OLM direct RNT and given a crossing restriction 10 south of OLM at 10;000 feet.After passing OLM and going direct RNT; I was given vectors and descents to coordinate with traffic. I was eventually given a heading and descent to 2;000 feet. The heading appeared to be a good intercept angle for Runway 34 at RNT. I began to slow from 200 KTS to 120 KTS. At this time the heading I had been given had taken me to the east of centerline to Runway 34 and I was expecting approach to give me a new heading to correct back; as I could see Runway 34. Instead I was given 'cleared for the approach to Runway 31 do no descend below; 1;600 feet until on the localizer.' I was then given a frequency change to contact the tower; it was not the correct frequency for RNT. At this point it began to be very clear to me that approach control thought my landing airport was BFI; not RNT. How or why; I didn't know. Approach control then gave me a heading north and a frequency for RNT; I entered a right downwind for Runway 34 at RNT and landed. On taxi in a RNT ground control gave me a request to call the watch supervisor for approach control and said 'don't let them blame this on you; they keyed in the wrong airport in the computer.' I thanked her and called the supervisor. She explained what happened; took my name and phone number in case there were further questions.In my years of flying I've heard many times about pilots landing at the wrong airport; but never ATC sending you to the wrong airport; especially on an IFR flight plan. As a result I didn't question the clearance I was given; I should have; as this whole exercise could have been avoided. Simply; if you don't understand the clearance; or it doesn't make sense; question it and get a clarification from Center; Approach Control; or Tower.

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.