Cleared for visual approach, flight crew lined up on wrong airport. Navigation instruments were tune...

Attributes
ACN	339229
Time
Date	199606
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : pbi
State Reference	FL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : pbi
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 4800 flight time type : 300
ASRS Report	339229
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : clearance other anomaly other other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other controllera other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : became reoriented flight crew : returned to intended course or assigned course other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

We were deviating around thunderstorms to land at pbi, en route from fll. We were farther to the east than we normally flew. We saw an airport that we thought was pbi, and were cleared for the visual with instructions to cross over the rubin LOM, for noise abatement purposes. The captain started turing early, so I pointed to the ADF and repeated our clearance was to cross over rubin. Since I was now certain that the captain understood our instructions and I had observed him turn back towards the beacon, I assumed he would wait for the localizer to come alive, and the other navigation sources to agree, before he turned final, so I diverted my attention outside to look for traffic, as this was a very busy area, with lots of light plane activity. As he lined up on final, we both noticed that this didn't look right. Our ADF needles were pointing to our 7 O'clock, so I looked to the left and saw pbi. I pointed it out to the captain and he initiated a turn to the left and a climb. About this time pbi tower called to tell us we had lined up on latana airport, which has the same runway orientation, and they gave us vectors to pbi. However, we were already in to turn by then. Earlier, when we had called pbi tower, they had cleared us to land, even though we had lined up on the wrong airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CLRED FOR VISUAL APCH, FLC LINED UP ON WRONG ARPT. NAV INSTS WERE TUNED CORRECTLY, BUT FLC BECAME FIXATED. THEY RECOGNIZED THE ERROR AND CORRECTED BACK TO THEIR DEST ARPT AT THE SAME TIME TWR CALLED THEM ABOUT THE WRONG ARPT.

Narrative: WE WERE DEVIATING AROUND TSTMS TO LAND AT PBI, ENRTE FROM FLL. WE WERE FARTHER TO THE E THAN WE NORMALLY FLEW. WE SAW AN ARPT THAT WE THOUGHT WAS PBI, AND WERE CLRED FOR THE VISUAL WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO CROSS OVER THE RUBIN LOM, FOR NOISE ABATEMENT PURPOSES. THE CAPT STARTED TURING EARLY, SO I POINTED TO THE ADF AND REPEATED OUR CLRNC WAS TO CROSS OVER RUBIN. SINCE I WAS NOW CERTAIN THAT THE CAPT UNDERSTOOD OUR INSTRUCTIONS AND I HAD OBSERVED HIM TURN BACK TOWARDS THE BEACON, I ASSUMED HE WOULD WAIT FOR THE LOC TO COME ALIVE, AND THE OTHER NAV SOURCES TO AGREE, BEFORE HE TURNED FINAL, SO I DIVERTED MY ATTN OUTSIDE TO LOOK FOR TFC, AS THIS WAS A VERY BUSY AREA, WITH LOTS OF LIGHT PLANE ACTIVITY. AS HE LINED UP ON FINAL, WE BOTH NOTICED THAT THIS DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT. OUR ADF NEEDLES WERE POINTING TO OUR 7 O'CLOCK, SO I LOOKED TO THE L AND SAW PBI. I POINTED IT OUT TO THE CAPT AND HE INITIATED A TURN TO THE L AND A CLB. ABOUT THIS TIME PBI TWR CALLED TO TELL US WE HAD LINED UP ON LATANA ARPT, WHICH HAS THE SAME RWY ORIENTATION, AND THEY GAVE US VECTORS TO PBI. HOWEVER, WE WERE ALREADY IN TO TURN BY THEN. EARLIER, WHEN WE HAD CALLED PBI TWR, THEY HAD CLRED US TO LAND, EVEN THOUGH WE HAD LINED UP ON THE WRONG ARPT.

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.

Cleared for visual approach, flight crew lined up on wrong airport. Navigation instruments were tuned correctly, but flight crew became fixated. They recognized the error and corrected back to their destination airport at the same time tower called them about the wrong airport.