PA28 pilot lands at wrong airport due to airframe icing and inclement WX.

Attributes
ACN	577393
Time
Date	200303
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Weather Elements	Snow Rain Ice Turbulence
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer II/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	landing : roll
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller limited radar : 5 controller time certified in position1 : 1.5 flight time total : 100
ASRS Report	577393
Person 2
Affiliation	other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Events
Anomaly	airspace violation : entry conflict : ground less severe incursion : landing without clearance incursion : runway inflight encounter : vfr in imc inflight encounter : weather inflight encounter other non adherence : clearance non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	other controllera other controllerb
Resolutory Action	controller : provided flight assist flight crew : landed as precaution flight crew : diverted to another airport
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Weather Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Cherokee landed at ZZZ instead of ZZZ2 while talking to ZZZ2. Pilot was a foreign speaking pilot and it was incredibly difficult to understand him. The WX was bad, with previous icing reports 1 hour old. After much questioning and confusion, the pilot was cleared to land with a 'not in sight' clearance. Even after the clearance, I was still trying to ascertain his position. So, I questioned him further and called over to ZZZ and asked them if they saw anything. They said a small plane just landed with a vehicle on the runway 17R overrun area. Loss of separation is unknown. Although the pilot said he had no icing to me, the rdr controller said he did have icing on his aircraft. I figured as much, because he seemed panicky and I was very anxious about just getting him safely on the ground when he asked me for the landing clearance. Thankfully, and although landing on an AFB, the pilot landed safely and no one got hurt in some very bad WX. In my opinion, the aircraft should not have departed because of the WX. I don't care what the official ASOS said -- the ceiling was lower. I was very scared for my life that the pilot might fly right into the tower when he said (before landing at ZZZ) that he was turning left (probably because he did not get a landing clearance right away). The ground controller and me had our inside tower lights on low or off and were looking all over the sky for aircraft to no avail. We also later found out that the ZZZ base operations had an arab speaking translator talk to the pilot and find out what happened. His english skills were not very good to say the least I doubt if he understood me half of the time, and I had an extremely hard time trying to understand him. This and the bad WX led to the pilot landing at the wrong field. I sincerely hope this lesson teaches the pilot some common sense. No one else was flying VFR in this area for hours before this happened because of the WX. He shouldn't have been either.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 PLT LANDS AT WRONG ARPT DUE TO AIRFRAME ICING AND INCLEMENT WX.

Narrative: CHEROKEE LANDED AT ZZZ INSTEAD OF ZZZ2 WHILE TALKING TO ZZZ2. PLT WAS A FOREIGN SPEAKING PLT AND IT WAS INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND HIM. THE WX WAS BAD, WITH PREVIOUS ICING RPTS 1 HR OLD. AFTER MUCH QUESTIONING AND CONFUSION, THE PLT WAS CLRED TO LAND WITH A 'NOT IN SIGHT' CLRNC. EVEN AFTER THE CLRNC, I WAS STILL TRYING TO ASCERTAIN HIS POS. SO, I QUESTIONED HIM FURTHER AND CALLED OVER TO ZZZ AND ASKED THEM IF THEY SAW ANYTHING. THEY SAID A SMALL PLANE JUST LANDED WITH A VEHICLE ON THE RWY 17R OVERRUN AREA. LOSS OF SEPARATION IS UNKNOWN. ALTHOUGH THE PLT SAID HE HAD NO ICING TO ME, THE RDR CTLR SAID HE DID HAVE ICING ON HIS ACFT. I FIGURED AS MUCH, BECAUSE HE SEEMED PANICKY AND I WAS VERY ANXIOUS ABOUT JUST GETTING HIM SAFELY ON THE GND WHEN HE ASKED ME FOR THE LNDG CLRNC. THANKFULLY, AND ALTHOUGH LNDG ON AN AFB, THE PLT LANDED SAFELY AND NO ONE GOT HURT IN SOME VERY BAD WX. IN MY OPINION, THE ACFT SHOULD NOT HAVE DEPARTED BECAUSE OF THE WX. I DON'T CARE WHAT THE OFFICIAL ASOS SAID -- THE CEILING WAS LOWER. I WAS VERY SCARED FOR MY LIFE THAT THE PLT MIGHT FLY RIGHT INTO THE TWR WHEN HE SAID (BEFORE LNDG AT ZZZ) THAT HE WAS TURNING L (PROBABLY BECAUSE HE DID NOT GET A LNDG CLRNC RIGHT AWAY). THE GND CTLR AND ME HAD OUR INSIDE TWR LIGHTS ON LOW OR OFF AND WERE LOOKING ALL OVER THE SKY FOR ACFT TO NO AVAIL. WE ALSO LATER FOUND OUT THAT THE ZZZ BASE OPS HAD AN ARAB SPEAKING TRANSLATOR TALK TO THE PLT AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED. HIS ENGLISH SKILLS WERE NOT VERY GOOD TO SAY THE LEAST I DOUBT IF HE UNDERSTOOD ME HALF OF THE TIME, AND I HAD AN EXTREMELY HARD TIME TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HIM. THIS AND THE BAD WX LED TO THE PLT LNDG AT THE WRONG FIELD. I SINCERELY HOPE THIS LESSON TEACHES THE PLT SOME COMMON SENSE. NO ONE ELSE WAS FLYING VFR IN THIS AREA FOR HRS BEFORE THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE WX. HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN EITHER.

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.