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Emb-145 captain reported the buf runway 5 ILS signal is weak and unreliable.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1583605 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201810 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | BUF.Airport |
| State Reference | NY |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
We were operating to buf. ATIS advised us that runway 5 ILS was in operation but coupled approaches were not authorized. As we intercepted the inbound course the autopilot was turned off but the flight director was left engaged. The flight director wandered a significant amount so it was disengaged. The ILS signal intermittently was lost several times outside the final approach fix and when the signal returned; the localizer needle wandered. [Another air carrier] landed in front of us and when we reported our situation they informed the controller that he had the same problem. When we broke out to visual conditions at about 500 feet we were left of course but within a perimeter to make a safe landing. We continued to land with no further incident.the weak signal was a known problem and aircraft were using this approach all day. Normally the approach would; in my opinion; be considered unstable and require a go-around but we had anticipated the deviation and would have been faced with the same problem in another attempt.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: EMB-145 Captain reported the BUF Runway 5 ILS signal is weak and unreliable.
Narrative: We were operating to BUF. ATIS advised us that Runway 5 ILS was in operation but coupled approaches were not authorized. As we intercepted the inbound course the autopilot was turned off but the flight director was left engaged. The flight director wandered a significant amount so it was disengaged. The ILS signal intermittently was lost several times outside the final approach fix and when the signal returned; the localizer needle wandered. [Another air carrier] landed in front of us and when we reported our situation they informed the Controller that he had the same problem. When we broke out to visual conditions at about 500 feet we were left of course but within a perimeter to make a safe landing. We continued to land with no further incident.The weak signal was a known problem and aircraft were using this approach all day. Normally the approach would; in my opinion; be considered unstable and require a go-around but we had anticipated the deviation and would have been faced with the same problem in another attempt.
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.