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GA pilot reported landing at an abandoned strip 1/4 mile from the intended airport UT53. The lack of closed runway markings at the abandoned strip were cited as a contributing factor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1537086 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201804 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | UT53.Airport |
| State Reference | UT |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Route In Use | Direct Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 11 Flight Crew Total 2300 Flight Crew Type 320 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
I received permission to land at private airport UT53 (sky ranch; near moab; utah). I researched the airport using a sectional; and reviewed the location relative to the valley and surrounding mountains in advance. I used a sectional; and my waas GPS (GNS480); which both verified the location. I flew over the valley to scope out the airport and crossed over the field into a left downwind for runway 30. Although I did not see a windsock; I had checked the winds via ASOS at nearby moab (cny). As I rolled out on the runway; it was a lot rougher than the newly surfaced runway that the manager had mentioned on the phone when I received approval to land there. I turned off on to what appeared to be a taxiway; which was also loose gravel. I shut down but did not see the manager who was to meet me there so I called him. He mentioned that he had seen me flying over but did not land at his strip. He suspected correctly that I had landed at an abandoned (county?) strip very close (1/4 mile) away from the UT53. I then took off (soft field technique to avoid the rough runway); flew 1/4 mile to the northeast; overflew the correct UT53; then landed safely.since the event; I have done a lot of research to see what could have gone wrong. I have verified that the a/FD and all sectional data that I can find shows the location as the old abandoned airport (lat/lon north 38deg29.266' x west 109deg26.922'). And; neither airstrip shows the airport name nor runway markings but more importantly the abandoned strip has no 'X' on the runway at all to show that it is no longer in service. In fact; ironically; the 'new' correct UT53 has small 'X's' on each end of the runway to dissuade cars from driving on the runway.all worked out fine but I thought that it would be useful to report this in hopes of at least getting the old abandoned airstrip marked with large 'X's' on the runway. The manager of the new airstrip mentioned that many people have landed at this wrong abandoned strip; so much so that someone had removed a barbwire fence that had been erected across the runway that one of the errant planes had run into in the past. I am very thankful that the abandoned runway was at least clear of obstacles (which I had checked on my overfly).
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: GA pilot reported landing at an abandoned strip 1/4 mile from the intended airport UT53. The lack of closed runway markings at the abandoned strip were cited as a contributing factor.
Narrative: I received permission to land at private airport UT53 (Sky Ranch; near Moab; Utah). I researched the airport using a sectional; and reviewed the location relative to the valley and surrounding mountains in advance. I used a sectional; and my WAAS GPS (GNS480); which both verified the location. I flew over the valley to scope out the airport and crossed over the field into a left downwind for runway 30. Although I did not see a windsock; I had checked the winds via ASOS at nearby Moab (CNY). As I rolled out on the runway; it was a lot rougher than the newly surfaced runway that the manager had mentioned on the phone when I received approval to land there. I turned off on to what appeared to be a taxiway; which was also loose gravel. I shut down but did not see the manager who was to meet me there so I called him. He mentioned that he had seen me flying over but did not land at his strip. He suspected correctly that I had landed at an abandoned (county?) strip very close (1/4 mile) away from the UT53. I then took off (soft field technique to avoid the rough runway); flew 1/4 mile to the northeast; overflew the correct UT53; then landed safely.Since the event; I have done a lot of research to see what could have gone wrong. I have verified that the A/FD and all sectional data that I can find shows the location as the old abandoned airport (Lat/Lon N 38deg29.266' x W 109deg26.922'). And; neither airstrip shows the airport name nor runway markings but more importantly the abandoned strip has no 'X' on the runway at all to show that it is no longer in service. In fact; ironically; the 'new' correct UT53 has small 'X's' on each end of the runway to dissuade cars from driving on the runway.All worked out fine but I thought that it would be useful to report this in hopes of at least getting the old abandoned airstrip marked with large 'X's' on the runway. The manager of the new airstrip mentioned that many people have landed at this wrong abandoned strip; so much so that someone had removed a barbwire fence that had been erected across the runway that one of the errant planes had run into in the past. I am very thankful that the abandoned runway was at least clear of obstacles (which I had checked on my overfly).
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.