Air carrier landing spin is cleared for visual approach but then lost sight of airport because of WX...

Attributes
ACN	610757
Time
Date	200403
Day	Tue
Place
Locale Reference	airport : spn.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	msl single value : 2500
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Weather Elements	Rain
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zua.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B747 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	approach : visual
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp pilot : commercial
ASRS Report	610757
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	inflight encounter : weather
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Human Performance Weather
Primary Problem	Weather

Narrative:

ATIS reported VFR. Reported field in sight passing field on left downwind. Cleared visual approach. Proceeded southeast for visual approach. Lost sight of field due to reduced visibility (rain showers). Reacquired at approximately 6-7 mi. ATIS did not report accurate WX information due to fast moving rain showers.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR LNDG SPIN IS CLRED FOR VISUAL APCH BUT THEN LOST SIGHT OF ARPT BECAUSE OF WX.

Narrative: ATIS RPTED VFR. RPTED FIELD IN SIGHT PASSING FIELD ON L DOWNWIND. CLRED VISUAL APCH. PROCEEDED SE FOR VISUAL APCH. LOST SIGHT OF FIELD DUE TO REDUCED VISIBILITY (RAIN SHOWERS). REACQUIRED AT APPROX 6-7 MI. ATIS DID NOT RPT ACCURATE WX INFO DUE TO FAST MOVING RAIN SHOWERS.

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.