Reporter observes another airplane land between the runway and the ramp at night.

Attributes
ACN	320911
Time
Date	199511
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : smo
State Reference	CA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : instructional
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	ground : holding
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Operator	general aviation : instructional
Make Model Name	Cessna Aircraft Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	landing other
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 50 flight time total : 2345
ASRS Report	320911
Person 2
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure non adherence : clearance non adherence : far
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified atc
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Airport
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation other
Situations
Airport	other physical facility

Narrative:

While waiting for takeoff clearance runway 21, another aircraft landed between runway 21 and the north side parallel taxiway (all paved). Tower noticed this and got sufficiently distracted that the controller forgot I was holding short awaiting takeoff clearance. About the same time the following night I landed on the runway under similar visibility conditions and noted that the 4-LIGHT VASI system is so bright that it overpwred the left side runway lights, making them very hard to pick out until short final. Brighter runway edge lights seem like the likely solution since the pilot apparently overlooked them and took the taxiway lights to the right of the runway to be the r- side runway lights.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RPTR OBSERVES ANOTHER AIRPLANE LAND BTWN THE RWY AND THE RAMP AT NIGHT.

Narrative: WHILE WAITING FOR TKOF CLRNC RWY 21, ANOTHER ACFT LANDED BTWN RWY 21 AND THE N SIDE PARALLEL TXWY (ALL PAVED). TWR NOTICED THIS AND GOT SUFFICIENTLY DISTRACTED THAT THE CTLR FORGOT I WAS HOLDING SHORT AWAITING TKOF CLRNC. ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE FOLLOWING NIGHT I LANDED ON THE RWY UNDER SIMILAR VISIBILITY CONDITIONS AND NOTED THAT THE 4-LIGHT VASI SYS IS SO BRIGHT THAT IT OVERPWRED THE L SIDE RWY LIGHTS, MAKING THEM VERY HARD TO PICK OUT UNTIL SHORT FINAL. BRIGHTER RWY EDGE LIGHTS SEEM LIKE THE LIKELY SOLUTION SINCE THE PLT APPARENTLY OVERLOOKED THEM AND TOOK THE TXWY LIGHTS TO THE R OF THE RWY TO BE THE R- SIDE RWY LIGHTS.

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.