Narrative:

We were on descent from the east through an overcast layer on a vector for a visual approach to runway 26. I believe winds were 240 degrees at 20-25 kts. Abq was landing runways 30 and 26. We had briefed a visual approach paying particular attention to the rising terrain just to the east of runway 26. Although there is no approach to runway 26; I dialed my CDI to 260 degrees to aid in runway alignment. As we broke out through the overcast at about 4000 ft AGL; we picked up the city and then the field. I mistakenly thought we were in a position from which to turn to base entry since I misidentified the pitch black terrain south of the field for the mountain ridge southeast of the field. In reality; we were in more of an upwind position (perhaps midfield in relation to runway 26) since approach had to get us down through the overcast. I could clearly see the field and runway 30 but could not make the lighting on runway 26 just yet. As we got cleared for the visual; we began our turn and started to configure as I switched to tower who promptly cleared us to land on runway 26. Both of us were expecting to have to work off a lot of altitude which is normal for landing on this runway from this direction of arrival. As we entered the base; my eyes locked onto runway 30 as our intended point of landing. I was completely disoriented as to our position relative to the field; but failed to realize this fact at the time. I assume the same can be said for the first officer since we both were erroneously targeting runway 30 for landing. I asked tower if we could overshoot final a bit. This helped us work off some altitude. We arrived in a stabilized position by 1000 ft. The first officer had a significant left crab going and I called out something like a 19 kt left crosswind just as we rolled wings level at about 800 ft AGL. Soon after this; the alert tower controller informed us we were lined up for runway 30. We immediately executed a go-around and received vectors for a right downwind approach and uneventful landing on runway 26. I have landed on runway 26 several times from an east arrival in daylight. I am very familiar with the dangers this VFR approach presents -- high setup; high terrain with possible high winds. The overcast coupled with the fact that runway 26 has no instrument approach and no approach lighting while runway 30 was clearly lit lulled us into a false reality. We were convinced we had the approach 'suit cased' only to find out how wrong we were. In order to prevent this episode from happening again; I would recommend abq approach vector arriving aircraft at night over the field for a right downwind entry for runway 26 VFR arrivals. If this is not possible; I recommend installing some additional lighting on runway 26 to better highlight it at night.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier pilot reports a spatial disorientation on a night downwind arrival for ABQ Runway 26 that caused the crew to approach Runway 30 in a strong crosswind. A go-around was executed followed by an approach to Runway 26.

Narrative: We were on descent from the east through an overcast layer on a vector for a visual approach to Runway 26. I believe winds were 240 degrees at 20-25 kts. ABQ was landing Runways 30 and 26. We had briefed a visual approach paying particular attention to the rising terrain just to the east of Runway 26. Although there is no approach to Runway 26; I dialed my CDI to 260 degrees to aid in runway alignment. As we broke out through the overcast at about 4000 ft AGL; we picked up the city and then the field. I mistakenly thought we were in a position from which to turn to base entry since I misidentified the pitch black terrain south of the field for the mountain ridge southeast of the field. In reality; we were in more of an upwind position (perhaps midfield in relation to Runway 26) since Approach had to get us down through the overcast. I could clearly see the field and Runway 30 but could not make the lighting on Runway 26 just yet. As we got cleared for the visual; we began our turn and started to configure as I switched to Tower who promptly cleared us to land on Runway 26. Both of us were expecting to have to work off a lot of altitude which is normal for landing on this runway from this direction of arrival. As we entered the base; my eyes locked onto Runway 30 as our intended point of landing. I was completely disoriented as to our position relative to the field; but failed to realize this fact at the time. I assume the same can be said for the First Officer since we both were erroneously targeting Runway 30 for landing. I asked Tower if we could overshoot final a bit. This helped us work off some altitude. We arrived in a stabilized position by 1000 ft. The First Officer had a significant left crab going and I called out something like a 19 kt left crosswind just as we rolled wings level at about 800 ft AGL. Soon after this; the alert Tower Controller informed us we were lined up for Runway 30. We immediately executed a go-around and received vectors for a right downwind approach and uneventful landing on Runway 26. I have landed on Runway 26 several times from an east arrival in daylight. I am very familiar with the dangers this VFR approach presents -- high setup; high terrain with possible high winds. The overcast coupled with the fact that Runway 26 has no instrument approach and no approach lighting while Runway 30 was clearly lit lulled us into a false reality. We were convinced we had the approach 'suit cased' only to find out how wrong we were. In order to prevent this episode from happening again; I would recommend ABQ Approach vector arriving aircraft at night over the field for a right downwind entry for Runway 26 VFR arrivals. If this is not possible; I recommend installing some additional lighting on Runway 26 to better highlight it at night.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.