Narrative:

Returning from the bahamas I was heading west for landing at fpr. I called the tower 25 mi then 10 mi east of the airport. Tower understood me to say I was west of the airport. I cannot remember if I said east or west. The tower told me to turn on my landing lights over interstate 95. I asked the location of I95, since I was not familiar with it. Tower told me I95 is 3 mi from the airport and cleared me for a straight-in to runway 9. I continued for a straight-in and at about 3 mi out passed over what appeared to be an interstate. I turned on my landing light and proceeded to the runway. Short final I finally saw the numbers on the runway and realized the mistake. I had made a straight-in to runway 27. I immediately turned right and started a climb to join a left downwind to runway 9 and told the tower. I was cleared for the downwind and landing on runway 9. The mistake here was the confusion on heading with relative position to the airport. This mistake having been made, it is unfortunate that the same type of landmark used by the tower for my reporting point (an interstate) existed both east and west of the airport. This helped to confirm everything was right and therefore not making me think that the straight-in I was on was for runway 27 not runway 9. This could have been avoided first by the pilot analyzing the landing clearance and not being lulled into the straight-in that I was lined up on. Further, if I would have been asked to report over a fix which did not exist on both the east and west side of the airport (an interstate) and if that report would have required communication, not just landing lights, this mistake would have been discovered much sooner. Sometimes when making spur of the moment position reports I report my heading instead of relative position. After this incident I will give position reports much more thought and this will not happen again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMT ON FINAL APCH, STRAIGHT-IN, BUT FOR OPPOSITE DIRECTION RWY.

Narrative: RETURNING FROM THE BAHAMAS I WAS HDG W FOR LNDG AT FPR. I CALLED THE TWR 25 MI THEN 10 MI E OF THE ARPT. TWR UNDERSTOOD ME TO SAY I WAS W OF THE ARPT. I CANNOT REMEMBER IF I SAID E OR W. THE TWR TOLD ME TO TURN ON MY LNDG LIGHTS OVER INTERSTATE 95. I ASKED THE LOCATION OF I95, SINCE I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT. TWR TOLD ME I95 IS 3 MI FROM THE ARPT AND CLRED ME FOR A STRAIGHT-IN TO RWY 9. I CONTINUED FOR A STRAIGHT-IN AND AT ABOUT 3 MI OUT PASSED OVER WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN INTERSTATE. I TURNED ON MY LNDG LIGHT AND PROCEEDED TO THE RWY. SHORT FINAL I FINALLY SAW THE NUMBERS ON THE RWY AND REALIZED THE MISTAKE. I HAD MADE A STRAIGHT-IN TO RWY 27. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED R AND STARTED A CLB TO JOIN A L DOWNWIND TO RWY 9 AND TOLD THE TWR. I WAS CLRED FOR THE DOWNWIND AND LNDG ON RWY 9. THE MISTAKE HERE WAS THE CONFUSION ON HDG WITH RELATIVE POS TO THE ARPT. THIS MISTAKE HAVING BEEN MADE, IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT THE SAME TYPE OF LANDMARK USED BY THE TWR FOR MY RPTING POINT (AN INTERSTATE) EXISTED BOTH E AND W OF THE ARPT. THIS HELPED TO CONFIRM EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT AND THEREFORE NOT MAKING ME THINK THAT THE STRAIGHT-IN I WAS ON WAS FOR RWY 27 NOT RWY 9. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED FIRST BY THE PLT ANALYZING THE LNDG CLRNC AND NOT BEING LULLED INTO THE STRAIGHT-IN THAT I WAS LINED UP ON. FURTHER, IF I WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED TO RPT OVER A FIX WHICH DID NOT EXIST ON BOTH THE E AND W SIDE OF THE ARPT (AN INTERSTATE) AND IF THAT RPT WOULD HAVE REQUIRED COM, NOT JUST LNDG LIGHTS, THIS MISTAKE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED MUCH SOONER. SOMETIMES WHEN MAKING SPUR OF THE MOMENT POS RPTS I RPT MY HDG INSTEAD OF RELATIVE POS. AFTER THIS INCIDENT I WILL GIVE POS RPTS MUCH MORE THOUGHT AND THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 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.