First officer of a DC9-51 cut the downwind leg and base leg too close to the runway during a visual ...

Attributes
ACN	423518
Time
Date	199812
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ito
State Reference	HI
Altitude	agl bound lower : 300 agl bound upper : 400
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	DC-9 50
Flight Phase	other
Route In Use	approach : visual
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 90 flight time total : 8500 flight time type : 6000
ASRS Report	423518
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Turned final too close-in to runway 26 at hilo. Unusually good WX, visual approach. First officer was flying. His descent planning had got him down a little early, which was ok because we were heavy. As we were approaching the airport, it occurred to me that we might be heading a little too much toward the end of the runway not giving us enough of a final. I also was aware of a condo/hotel that is just off to the left of the departure end of runway 8. I saw a few lights right ahead of us that could be the condo, so I wondered out loud if that were the lights. The first officer angled a little farther out toward downwind (we were on a right base-leg entry). It didn't seem quite enough, so I thought that he might be confusing the terminal lights with the runway. I called tower and asked if they had the approach lights on. They said 'hum, should be, let me check' and then they came on. We both saw that we were on a pretty tight base so first officer angled out a bit more to the left, but by then he had to turn back around to the right to line up on final. Consequently, we rolled out on final at about 300-400 ft, and we did sort of a turn- around-a-point on the condo. I do not believe that this was a particularly unsafe operation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FO OF A DC9-51 CUT THE DOWNWIND LEG AND BASE LEG TOO CLOSE TO THE RWY DURING A VISUAL APCH CAUSING A NOISE COMPLAINT.

Narrative: TURNED FINAL TOO CLOSE-IN TO RWY 26 AT HILO. UNUSUALLY GOOD WX, VISUAL APCH. FO WAS FLYING. HIS DSCNT PLANNING HAD GOT HIM DOWN A LITTLE EARLY, WHICH WAS OK BECAUSE WE WERE HVY. AS WE WERE APCHING THE ARPT, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT WE MIGHT BE HEADING A LITTLE TOO MUCH TOWARD THE END OF THE RWY NOT GIVING US ENOUGH OF A FINAL. I ALSO WAS AWARE OF A CONDO/HOTEL THAT IS JUST OFF TO THE L OF THE DEP END OF RWY 8. I SAW A FEW LIGHTS RIGHT AHEAD OF US THAT COULD BE THE CONDO, SO I WONDERED OUT LOUD IF THAT WERE THE LIGHTS. THE FO ANGLED A LITTLE FARTHER OUT TOWARD DOWNWIND (WE WERE ON A R BASE-LEG ENTRY). IT DIDN'T SEEM QUITE ENOUGH, SO I THOUGHT THAT HE MIGHT BE CONFUSING THE TERMINAL LIGHTS WITH THE RWY. I CALLED TWR AND ASKED IF THEY HAD THE APCH LIGHTS ON. THEY SAID 'HUM, SHOULD BE, LET ME CHK' AND THEN THEY CAME ON. WE BOTH SAW THAT WE WERE ON A PRETTY TIGHT BASE SO FO ANGLED OUT A BIT MORE TO THE L, BUT BY THEN HE HAD TO TURN BACK AROUND TO THE R TO LINE UP ON FINAL. CONSEQUENTLY, WE ROLLED OUT ON FINAL AT ABOUT 300-400 FT, AND WE DID SORT OF A TURN- AROUND-A-POINT ON THE CONDO. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS A PARTICULARLY UNSAFE OP.

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.

First officer of a DC9-51 cut the downwind leg and base leg too close to the runway during a visual approach causing a noise complaint.