Pilot disorientation on airport at night.

Attributes
ACN	153319
Time
Date	199008
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : jfk
State Reference	NY
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, Low Wing, 1 Eng, Retractable Gear
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller non radar : 6 controller radar : 2
ASRS Report	153319
Person 2
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : private
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure non adherence : clearance
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

A GA small aircraft X landed, and the pilot was disoriented and could not distinguish txwys from runways. A veh was dispatched to escort him to the GA ramp. Under busier conditions this would have a major impact on the operation. No known impact to known traffic. Maybe it would help if this pilot had at least a general knowledge of the airport layout (eg a map), because he caused an excessive amount of attention to be focused on him (and away from the rest of the operation).

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PLT DISORIENTATION ON ARPT AT NIGHT.

Narrative: A GA SMA X LANDED, AND THE PLT WAS DISORIENTED AND COULD NOT DISTINGUISH TXWYS FROM RWYS. A VEH WAS DISPATCHED TO ESCORT HIM TO THE GA RAMP. UNDER BUSIER CONDITIONS THIS WOULD HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE OPERATION. NO KNOWN IMPACT TO KNOWN TFC. MAYBE IT WOULD HELP IF THIS PLT HAD AT LEAST A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARPT LAYOUT (EG A MAP), BECAUSE HE CAUSED AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF ATTN TO BE FOCUSED ON HIM (AND AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE OPERATION).

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.