Narrative:

In my humble opinion, the mateo six arrival into mexico city is in need of revision. I performed this arrival during my initial mexico city chkout with a check airman and found it didn't put the airplane in a good position to find the airport. I was at 135 KIAS, configured for landing, at the smo VOR 160 degree radial, 9.2 DME fix. I turned to a heading of 090 degrees and armed the localizer. The aircraft immediately began roll oscillations in an attempt to capture the localizer, which was in reality off to the right. Whether this was a false localizer capture or not is unknown. The same thing might happen at any facility this close to the field. Even though I allowed for the small turn radius, I still ended up left of course. The visibility was limited somewhat by haze and the approach lighting at the field didn't lend itself to finding the runway easily. Having to descend and turning about 110 degrees to intercept the localizer inbound doesn't help, either. With all of this going on, there wasn't a lot of time to find the airfield visually.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80S ACFT TRANSITIONING FROM ARR TO LOC INTERCEPT HAD ERRATIC LOC SIGNALS AND RPTR HAD TO MAKE LARGE CORRECTION TO INTERCEPT. RPTR SAYS THAT THE MATEO SIX ARR SHOULD BE REVISED BECAUSE THE TURN IN IS TOO CLOSE TO THE ARPT AND DSNDING WHILE MANEUVERING TO INTERCEPT DOESN'T ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR STABILIZING THE APCH.

Narrative: IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, THE MATEO SIX ARR INTO MEXICO CITY IS IN NEED OF REVISION. I PERFORMED THIS ARR DURING MY INITIAL MEXICO CITY CHKOUT WITH A CHK AIRMAN AND FOUND IT DIDN'T PUT THE AIRPLANE IN A GOOD POS TO FIND THE ARPT. I WAS AT 135 KIAS, CONFIGURED FOR LNDG, AT THE SMO VOR 160 DEG RADIAL, 9.2 DME FIX. I TURNED TO A HDG OF 090 DEGS AND ARMED THE LOC. THE ACFT IMMEDIATELY BEGAN ROLL OSCILLATIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE LOC, WHICH WAS IN REALITY OFF TO THE R. WHETHER THIS WAS A FALSE LOC CAPTURE OR NOT IS UNKNOWN. THE SAME THING MIGHT HAPPEN AT ANY FACILITY THIS CLOSE TO THE FIELD. EVEN THOUGH I ALLOWED FOR THE SMALL TURN RADIUS, I STILL ENDED UP L OF COURSE. THE VISIBILITY WAS LIMITED SOMEWHAT BY HAZE AND THE APCH LIGHTING AT THE FIELD DIDN'T LEND ITSELF TO FINDING THE RWY EASILY. HAVING TO DSND AND TURNING ABOUT 110 DEGS TO INTERCEPT THE LOC INBOUND DOESN'T HELP, EITHER. WITH ALL OF THIS GOING ON, THERE WASN'T A LOT OF TIME TO FIND THE AIRFIELD VISUALLY.

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.