Narrative:

In sum: a captain reports that his first officer was hand flying an large transport freighter in the very early morning into mem. The sky was clear. The crew was flying the walet 7 STAR with all of the appropriate navigation aids tuned and identified. The first officer was 'behind the airplane' and spent too much time heads down without looking out the window for the airport and runway, and was chasing a 'ghost GS.' when he reached an altitude below the pattern altitude, the tower gave a low altitude warning. The reporting captain had been distracted by frequency changes, and when he looked out the window, he too was lost. The crew was able to re-orient themselves and land uneventfully. The captain chides himself for not monitoring the situation more carefully. He believes that the first officer, who is a low time pilot and is on reserve, does not get enough flying to stay up to speed. The captain 'wrote up' the first officer who got some remedial training. The captain believes that everyone is allowed a 'bad day' every now and then, but that 3 in a row are too many. Supplemental information from acn 268201: the captain and the first officer agreed that they had the field in sight and the captain called for a visual approach (with ILS backup). We approached the runway 36R from the southwest with the intent to set up for a left base leg. From this particular angle of approach, it is not possible to see the runways, but the airport environment and beacon are certainly visible. This airport environment resembles a large, unlit black area on the ground, as many airports do from an angle in which the active (lighted) runways are not visible. Further complicating the airport sighting problem, is that due west of, and nearly adjacent to the airport is another large, unlit black area which could be confused for the airport. The first officer apparently lost sight of the airport and confused the black area immediately west as the airport. I now realized that the first officer had lost sight of the airport and said, 'we're too low out here.' the captain issued an immediate command to the first officer to climb. The gain in altitude and right turn enabled the first officer to acquire the airport and the runways and make an uneventful visual approach and landing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR FRTR CAPT RPTS THAT HIS FO MADE VERY POOR USE OF ILS DURING VISUAL APCH AND WAS DISORIENTED. CFTT.

Narrative: IN SUM: A CAPT RPTS THAT HIS FO WAS HAND FLYING AN LGT FREIGHTER IN THE VERY EARLY MORNING INTO MEM. THE SKY WAS CLR. THE CREW WAS FLYING THE WALET 7 STAR WITH ALL OF THE APPROPRIATE NAV AIDS TUNED AND IDENTIFIED. THE FO WAS 'BEHIND THE AIRPLANE' AND SPENT TOO MUCH TIME HEADS DOWN WITHOUT LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW FOR THE ARPT AND RWY, AND WAS CHASING A 'GHOST GS.' WHEN HE REACHED AN ALT BELOW THE PATTERN ALT, THE TWR GAVE A LOW ALT WARNING. THE RPTING CAPT HAD BEEN DISTRACTED BY FREQ CHANGES, AND WHEN HE LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW, HE TOO WAS LOST. THE CREW WAS ABLE TO RE-ORIENT THEMSELVES AND LAND UNEVENTFULLY. THE CAPT CHIDES HIMSELF FOR NOT MONITORING THE SIT MORE CAREFULLY. HE BELIEVES THAT THE FO, WHO IS A LOW TIME PLT AND IS ON RESERVE, DOES NOT GET ENOUGH FLYING TO STAY UP TO SPD. THE CAPT 'WROTE UP' THE FO WHO GOT SOME REMEDIAL TRAINING. THE CAPT BELIEVES THAT EVERYONE IS ALLOWED A 'BAD DAY' EVERY NOW AND THEN, BUT THAT 3 IN A ROW ARE TOO MANY. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 268201: THE CAPT AND THE FO AGREED THAT THEY HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT AND THE CAPT CALLED FOR A VISUAL APCH (WITH ILS BACKUP). WE APCHED THE RWY 36R FROM THE SW WITH THE INTENT TO SET UP FOR A L BASE LEG. FROM THIS PARTICULAR ANGLE OF APCH, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SEE THE RWYS, BUT THE ARPT ENVIRONMENT AND BEACON ARE CERTAINLY VISIBLE. THIS ARPT ENVIRONMENT RESEMBLES A LARGE, UNLIT BLACK AREA ON THE GND, AS MANY ARPTS DO FROM AN ANGLE IN WHICH THE ACTIVE (LIGHTED) RWYS ARE NOT VISIBLE. FURTHER COMPLICATING THE ARPT SIGHTING PROB, IS THAT DUE W OF, AND NEARLY ADJACENT TO THE ARPT IS ANOTHER LARGE, UNLIT BLACK AREA WHICH COULD BE CONFUSED FOR THE ARPT. THE FO APPARENTLY LOST SIGHT OF THE ARPT AND CONFUSED THE BLACK AREA IMMEDIATELY W AS THE ARPT. I NOW REALIZED THAT THE FO HAD LOST SIGHT OF THE ARPT AND SAID, 'WE'RE TOO LOW OUT HERE.' THE CAPT ISSUED AN IMMEDIATE COMMAND TO THE FO TO CLB. THE GAIN IN ALT AND R TURN ENABLED THE FO TO ACQUIRE THE ARPT AND THE RWYS AND MAKE AN UNEVENTFUL VISUAL APCH AND LNDG.

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.