Narrative:

We are a united states 121 carrier operating under contract to a foreign air carrier doing a haj flight. Inbound to opla, handed off to tower 50 mi out. Approach, tower, ground and clearance delivery all handled by the 1 single person in tower cabin attendant. Told to plan ILS 30. As instructed, we reported 30 out and 10 out. We reported 'overhead VOR entering the hold.' tower says 'roger.' we did a teardrop outbound for 1 min and reported 'turning inbound.' tower says 'roger.' we reported 'overhead the VOR.' tower says 'roger, proceed outbound.' we reported '9 DME turning left heading 060 degrees.' silence from tower. We reported 'turning inbound on the ILS.' tower says 'are you inbound on the ILS? Confirm.' we said 'roger, 8 mi final to runway 30.' at this point tower was totally confused but cleared us to land and we did. I was then instructed to visit the tower personally which I did. I did not understand how tower lost track of us after we made all the necessary reports. The answer is partially due to language difference but mostly due to phraseology difference. When I reported overhead VOR tower said 'roger, proceed outbound' I interpreted that to mean 'continue the approach' -- it did not. Tower wanted us to proceed outbound in the holding pattern.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR WDB DID NOT EXACTLY FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS IN AN APCH TO A FOREIGN ARPT.

Narrative: WE ARE A UNITED STATES 121 CARRIER OPERATING UNDER CONTRACT TO A FOREIGN ACR DOING A HAJ FLT. INBOUND TO OPLA, HANDED OFF TO TWR 50 MI OUT. APCH, TWR, GND AND CLRNC DELIVERY ALL HANDLED BY THE 1 SINGLE PERSON IN TWR CAB. TOLD TO PLAN ILS 30. AS INSTRUCTED, WE RPTED 30 OUT AND 10 OUT. WE RPTED 'OVERHEAD VOR ENTERING THE HOLD.' TWR SAYS 'ROGER.' WE DID A TEARDROP OUTBOUND FOR 1 MIN AND RPTED 'TURNING INBOUND.' TWR SAYS 'ROGER.' WE RPTED 'OVERHEAD THE VOR.' TWR SAYS 'ROGER, PROCEED OUTBOUND.' WE RPTED '9 DME TURNING L HDG 060 DEGS.' SILENCE FROM TWR. WE RPTED 'TURNING INBOUND ON THE ILS.' TWR SAYS 'ARE YOU INBOUND ON THE ILS? CONFIRM.' WE SAID 'ROGER, 8 MI FINAL TO RWY 30.' AT THIS POINT TWR WAS TOTALLY CONFUSED BUT CLRED US TO LAND AND WE DID. I WAS THEN INSTRUCTED TO VISIT THE TWR PERSONALLY WHICH I DID. I DID NOT UNDERSTAND HOW TWR LOST TRACK OF US AFTER WE MADE ALL THE NECESSARY RPTS. THE ANSWER IS PARTIALLY DUE TO LANGUAGE DIFFERENCE BUT MOSTLY DUE TO PHRASEOLOGY DIFFERENCE. WHEN I RPTED OVERHEAD VOR TWR SAID 'ROGER, PROCEED OUTBOUND' I INTERPRETED THAT TO MEAN 'CONTINUE THE APCH' -- IT DID NOT. TWR WANTED US TO PROCEED OUTBOUND IN THE HOLDING PATTERN.

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.