Narrative:

I had a very unpleasant encounter with an airport in weatherford, tx. You may not be able to do anything about it, yet I feel strongly that this situation should come to the attention of someone in the FAA and be investigated. At around XA39 local time, I arrived in the vicinity of wea having canceled my IFR flight plan with regional approach only 10 mi from wea. The night was perfect, severe clear and forever visibility. No beacon, no sign of the airport. I flew directly over the spot where the GPS, LORAN, and VOR/DME said the airport should be, and nothing. I made a slow turn south around to north and focused on the only dark spot in the area that could be shaped like an airport and barely made out what appeared to be runway lights on very low intensity. Alignment with this phenomenon made me suspect that it was indeed a runway, yet there was only one solid row of lights and another row of very sporadic lights, still no beacon, no windsock, no taxi lights. I made two low passes to see if I could land the plane under these conditions. I could not tell where the runway was. Could it be west of the solid row of lights and something was making them malfunction? Or (more logically) somewhere between the solid and broken array of lights? I could not be sure. I decided that it was far too dangerous to land at wea and diverted to the nearest airport which was ftw meacham field. This caused a 5 1/2 hour delay. I arrived back at gwo at XF30 am local time. The unsafe landing conditions at wea caused many other safety concerns such as fatigue in my late departure not to mention the fact that we were flying around in some of the most congested airspace in the united states. I also had concern about local towers and other obstructions while I was looking for this airport with no beacon and no lights. Please contact me for further information on this flight. I hope a student doesn't try a landing there some night on a cross country and get hurt.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PIREP REGARDING THE UNSAFE LIGHTING CONDITIONS OF WEA ARPT IN TEXAS. NO BEACON, BUT ONE IS INDICATED IN ARPT FACILITY DIRECTORY AND AOPA ARPTS BOOK. RWY LIGHTS ARE INDICATED AS NON STANDARD, BUT PLT WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE ACTUAL RWY LOCATION WITH THE LIMITED LIGHTING CONDITIONS. RPTR SENT A LETTER TO FSDO.

Narrative: I HAD A VERY UNPLEASANT ENCOUNTER WITH AN ARPT IN WEATHERFORD, TX. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, YET I FEEL STRONGLY THAT THIS SIT SHOULD COME TO THE ATTN OF SOMEONE IN THE FAA AND BE INVESTIGATED. AT AROUND XA39 LCL TIME, I ARRIVED IN THE VICINITY OF WEA HAVING CANCELED MY IFR FLT PLAN WITH REGIONAL APCH ONLY 10 MI FROM WEA. THE NIGHT WAS PERFECT, SEVERE CLR AND FOREVER VISIBILITY. NO BEACON, NO SIGN OF THE ARPT. I FLEW DIRECTLY OVER THE SPOT WHERE THE GPS, LORAN, AND VOR/DME SAID THE ARPT SHOULD BE, AND NOTHING. I MADE A SLOW TURN S AROUND TO N AND FOCUSED ON THE ONLY DARK SPOT IN THE AREA THAT COULD BE SHAPED LIKE AN ARPT AND BARELY MADE OUT WHAT APPEARED TO BE RWY LIGHTS ON VERY LOW INTENSITY. ALIGNMENT WITH THIS PHENOMENON MADE ME SUSPECT THAT IT WAS INDEED A RWY, YET THERE WAS ONLY ONE SOLID ROW OF LIGHTS AND ANOTHER ROW OF VERY SPORADIC LIGHTS, STILL NO BEACON, NO WINDSOCK, NO TAXI LIGHTS. I MADE TWO LOW PASSES TO SEE IF I COULD LAND THE PLANE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. I COULD NOT TELL WHERE THE RWY WAS. COULD IT BE W OF THE SOLID ROW OF LIGHTS AND SOMETHING WAS MAKING THEM MALFUNCTION? OR (MORE LOGICALLY) SOMEWHERE BTWN THE SOLID AND BROKEN ARRAY OF LIGHTS? I COULD NOT BE SURE. I DECIDED THAT IT WAS FAR TOO DANGEROUS TO LAND AT WEA AND DIVERTED TO THE NEAREST ARPT WHICH WAS FTW MEACHAM FIELD. THIS CAUSED A 5 1/2 HR DELAY. I ARRIVED BACK AT GWO AT XF30 AM LCL TIME. THE UNSAFE LNDG CONDITIONS AT WEA CAUSED MANY OTHER SAFETY CONCERNS SUCH AS FATIGUE IN MY LATE DEP NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT WE WERE FLYING AROUND IN SOME OF THE MOST CONGESTED AIRSPACE IN THE UNITED STATES. I ALSO HAD CONCERN ABOUT LCL TWRS AND OTHER OBSTRUCTIONS WHILE I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS ARPT WITH NO BEACON AND NO LIGHTS. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR FURTHER INFO ON THIS FLT. I HOPE A STUDENT DOESN'T TRY A LNDG THERE SOME NIGHT ON A XCOUNTRY AND GET HURT.

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.