Narrative:

Misidented airport. On vectors to a visual approach to runway 19. Captain called the field in sight and seeing himself high, fully configured the aircraft. Upon turning to final, tower advised that we may be looking at the wrong airport and called the airport's position to us. At this point the captain (me) discontinued the approach at 1600 ft, climbed up to 2000 ft and proceeded to the hawky OM for a non eventful landing at alb. Although there were numerous navaids to alert me to my loss of situational awareness, it was the tower followed shortly thereafter by my first officer that snapped my attention back to my navigation lapse. I saw what I expected to see and thought at that moment that my radio navigation and FMC agreed with my sight picture. It would soon become obvious that the runway I was looking at didn't correlate to my ILS, but the tower and my first officer spoke up first. This event just reinforced the dangers of complacency on a sunny VFR day and the importance of crew member assertiveness during flight deviations. Quick action on the tower's part made this more of a professional embarrassment and keeps this from being a real incident. In short, I boned this up -- no excuse, it won't happen again. Supplemental information from acn 539194: on vectors to a visual approach to runway 19 into alb, the captain called the field in sight. Before turning final, he noticed he was high and went to full confign. While he was turning final, the 'picture' did not look right. At about that time the alb tower advised us we might be approaching the wrong runway. We both confirmed our position and realized we were indeed approaching the wrong airport. The altitude was about 1600 ft MSL. We immediately climbed back to 2000 ft and turned toward the OM by runway 19. At about the time the controller was telling us we were approaching the wrong airport, I spoke up to the captain that I thought we were approaching the wrong airport and the picture didn't look right. After we turned back toward the final of runway 19, we landed without incident. We both realized that checking and rechking our NAVAID, even on a clear day could have prevented this mistake.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 CREW MISIDENTED ALB VISUALLY AND WAS MAKING AN APCH TO SCH INSTEAD.

Narrative: MISIDENTED ARPT. ON VECTORS TO A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 19. CAPT CALLED THE FIELD IN SIGHT AND SEEING HIMSELF HIGH, FULLY CONFIGURED THE ACFT. UPON TURNING TO FINAL, TWR ADVISED THAT WE MAY BE LOOKING AT THE WRONG ARPT AND CALLED THE ARPT'S POS TO US. AT THIS POINT THE CAPT (ME) DISCONTINUED THE APCH AT 1600 FT, CLBED UP TO 2000 FT AND PROCEEDED TO THE HAWKY OM FOR A NON EVENTFUL LNDG AT ALB. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NUMEROUS NAVAIDS TO ALERT ME TO MY LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, IT WAS THE TWR FOLLOWED SHORTLY THEREAFTER BY MY FO THAT SNAPPED MY ATTN BACK TO MY NAV LAPSE. I SAW WHAT I EXPECTED TO SEE AND THOUGHT AT THAT MOMENT THAT MY RADIO NAV AND FMC AGREED WITH MY SIGHT PICTURE. IT WOULD SOON BECOME OBVIOUS THAT THE RWY I WAS LOOKING AT DIDN'T CORRELATE TO MY ILS, BUT THE TWR AND MY FO SPOKE UP FIRST. THIS EVENT JUST REINFORCED THE DANGERS OF COMPLACENCY ON A SUNNY VFR DAY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CREW MEMBER ASSERTIVENESS DURING FLT DEVS. QUICK ACTION ON THE TWR'S PART MADE THIS MORE OF A PROFESSIONAL EMBARRASSMENT AND KEEPS THIS FROM BEING A REAL INCIDENT. IN SHORT, I BONED THIS UP -- NO EXCUSE, IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 539194: ON VECTORS TO A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 19 INTO ALB, THE CAPT CALLED THE FIELD IN SIGHT. BEFORE TURNING FINAL, HE NOTICED HE WAS HIGH AND WENT TO FULL CONFIGN. WHILE HE WAS TURNING FINAL, THE 'PICTURE' DID NOT LOOK RIGHT. AT ABOUT THAT TIME THE ALB TWR ADVISED US WE MIGHT BE APCHING THE WRONG RWY. WE BOTH CONFIRMED OUR POS AND REALIZED WE WERE INDEED APCHING THE WRONG ARPT. THE ALT WAS ABOUT 1600 FT MSL. WE IMMEDIATELY CLBED BACK TO 2000 FT AND TURNED TOWARD THE OM BY RWY 19. AT ABOUT THE TIME THE CTLR WAS TELLING US WE WERE APCHING THE WRONG ARPT, I SPOKE UP TO THE CAPT THAT I THOUGHT WE WERE APCHING THE WRONG ARPT AND THE PICTURE DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT. AFTER WE TURNED BACK TOWARD THE FINAL OF RWY 19, WE LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. WE BOTH REALIZED THAT CHKING AND RECHKING OUR NAVAID, EVEN ON A CLR DAY COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS MISTAKE.

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.