Narrative:

We were cleared the river visual to runway 19 at dca. The first officer and I briefed the approach and what to look for at night. Neither one of us had been there at night before. Following the river was not a problem, but as we approached about 4 NM, we picked up what we thought was runway 19. We were cleared to land and continued to about 2 mi before figuring out that we were lined up on runway 15 and were asked if we could still make runway 19. We said no, and executed a go around. We were vectored around for another river visual to runway 19 and the landing was uneventful. Some great lessons were learned. We talked to the tower when we got on the ground and they confirmed that a lot of crews bite off on runway 15 at night.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RWY 19 RIVER VISUAL APCH TO DCA AT NIGHT RESULTS IN A GAR WHEN THE CREW FINDS THEMSELVES LINED UP WITH RWY 15. TWR SAYS IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

Narrative: WE WERE CLRED THE RIVER VISUAL TO RWY 19 AT DCA. THE FO AND I BRIEFED THE APCH AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR AT NIGHT. NEITHER ONE OF US HAD BEEN THERE AT NIGHT BEFORE. FOLLOWING THE RIVER WAS NOT A PROB, BUT AS WE APCHED ABOUT 4 NM, WE PICKED UP WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS RWY 19. WE WERE CLRED TO LAND AND CONTINUED TO ABOUT 2 MI BEFORE FIGURING OUT THAT WE WERE LINED UP ON RWY 15 AND WERE ASKED IF WE COULD STILL MAKE RWY 19. WE SAID NO, AND EXECUTED A GAR. WE WERE VECTORED AROUND FOR ANOTHER RIVER VISUAL TO RWY 19 AND THE LNDG WAS UNEVENTFUL. SOME GREAT LESSONS WERE LEARNED. WE TALKED TO THE TWR WHEN WE GOT ON THE GND AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT A LOT OF CREWS BITE OFF ON RWY 15 AT NIGHT.

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.