Narrative:

On a late evening (XB45 local), from salinas, ca, to my home field, hayward, ca, my event occurred. Conditions were clear, visibility unlimited. I used flight following from south county airport until flight following was terminated approximately 10 mi from hwd. I listened to hwd ATIS and found the tower closed and an announcement that the high intensity lights for runway 28L were inoperative. Broadcasting in the blind and looking for the tower beacon and low intensity lights against a very bright background clutter of street lights, etc, I found what from my position, was the tower beacon. That then became the location of my focused attention. Shortly, I saw the low intensity lights of runway 28R and the aircraft reporting on final to hayward. Continuing to broadcast in the blind and with the king air behind me, I called my approach at 2 mi and short final, and proceeded to land, completing my landing checklist. I activated the microphone switch to see if the runway pilot activated lights light system would make the lights brighter. It did not. I continued to descend to land at hayward. My total focus was now on the landing after short final broadcast. Everything looked ok, I saw the left runway, no lights. I saw the approach lights but thought they must have been just added with the new run- up area work. I continued my descent to land. As soon as I touched down I knew something was wrong with my surroundings even though I keep trying to make them fit. After taxiing clear of the runway I was in a state of complete shock at the realization that I had just landed at oakland, unannounced. After taxiing clear and parking I called 'ground' to apologize and start the process of explaining what happened. The ground and tower personnel were very polite and helpful. My thought was, how could this have happened to me. I am so very cautious and careful about all aspects of my flying. I departed oak and immediately landed hwd. My conclusions are as follows: 1) this pilot needs more night flying hours into my home airport and others in the bay area. 2) increase the intensity of the hwd tower beacon so pilots will have a better chance of finding it against the bright background on cavu nights. 3) hayward airport should immediately repair any outage of the high intensity lights of runway 28L. It's obviously too easy to mistake, from a distance, the runway lights of oak for the low intensity lights of hwd on a clear night with unlimited visibility since the airports are so close together.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN SMA PVT PLT LANDS ON RWY 27R AT OAK ARPT WITHOUT CLRNC. PLT THOUGHT IT WAS HWD ARPT. HWD HAD NOTAMED THE HIRL FOR RWY 28L OTS. IT WAS DARK WITH GOOD VISIBILITY.

Narrative: ON A LATE EVENING (XB45 LCL), FROM SALINAS, CA, TO MY HOME FIELD, HAYWARD, CA, MY EVENT OCCURRED. CONDITIONS WERE CLR, VISIBILITY UNLIMITED. I USED FLT FOLLOWING FROM S COUNTY ARPT UNTIL FLT FOLLOWING WAS TERMINATED APPROX 10 MI FROM HWD. I LISTENED TO HWD ATIS AND FOUND THE TWR CLOSED AND AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE HIGH INTENSITY LIGHTS FOR RWY 28L WERE INOP. BROADCASTING IN THE BLIND AND LOOKING FOR THE TWR BEACON AND LOW INTENSITY LIGHTS AGAINST A VERY BRIGHT BACKGROUND CLUTTER OF STREET LIGHTS, ETC, I FOUND WHAT FROM MY POS, WAS THE TWR BEACON. THAT THEN BECAME THE LOCATION OF MY FOCUSED ATTN. SHORTLY, I SAW THE LOW INTENSITY LIGHTS OF RWY 28R AND THE ACFT RPTING ON FINAL TO HAYWARD. CONTINUING TO BROADCAST IN THE BLIND AND WITH THE KING AIR BEHIND ME, I CALLED MY APCH AT 2 MI AND SHORT FINAL, AND PROCEEDED TO LAND, COMPLETING MY LNDG CHKLIST. I ACTIVATED THE MIKE SWITCH TO SEE IF THE RWY PLT ACTIVATED LIGHTS LIGHT SYS WOULD MAKE THE LIGHTS BRIGHTER. IT DID NOT. I CONTINUED TO DSND TO LAND AT HAYWARD. MY TOTAL FOCUS WAS NOW ON THE LNDG AFTER SHORT FINAL BROADCAST. EVERYTHING LOOKED OK, I SAW THE L RWY, NO LIGHTS. I SAW THE APCH LIGHTS BUT THOUGHT THEY MUST HAVE BEEN JUST ADDED WITH THE NEW RUN- UP AREA WORK. I CONTINUED MY DSCNT TO LAND. AS SOON AS I TOUCHED DOWN I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH MY SURROUNDINGS EVEN THOUGH I KEEP TRYING TO MAKE THEM FIT. AFTER TAXIING CLR OF THE RWY I WAS IN A STATE OF COMPLETE SHOCK AT THE REALIZATION THAT I HAD JUST LANDED AT OAKLAND, UNANNOUNCED. AFTER TAXIING CLR AND PARKING I CALLED 'GND' TO APOLOGIZE AND START THE PROCESS OF EXPLAINING WHAT HAPPENED. THE GND AND TWR PERSONNEL WERE VERY POLITE AND HELPFUL. MY THOUGHT WAS, HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME. I AM SO VERY CAUTIOUS AND CAREFUL ABOUT ALL ASPECTS OF MY FLYING. I DEPARTED OAK AND IMMEDIATELY LANDED HWD. MY CONCLUSIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) THIS PLT NEEDS MORE NIGHT FLYING HRS INTO MY HOME ARPT AND OTHERS IN THE BAY AREA. 2) INCREASE THE INTENSITY OF THE HWD TWR BEACON SO PLTS WILL HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF FINDING IT AGAINST THE BRIGHT BACKGROUND ON CAVU NIGHTS. 3) HAYWARD ARPT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY REPAIR ANY OUTAGE OF THE HIGH INTENSITY LIGHTS OF RWY 28L. IT'S OBVIOUSLY TOO EASY TO MISTAKE, FROM A DISTANCE, THE RWY LIGHTS OF OAK FOR THE LOW INTENSITY LIGHTS OF HWD ON A CLR NIGHT WITH UNLIMITED VISIBILITY SINCE THE ARPTS ARE SO CLOSE TOGETHER.

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.