Narrative:

I contacted dvt tower approximately 15 miles northeast of dvt. Tower responded; 'report cave creek dam.' I reported in when I was at the cave creek dam; and tower advised me to 'enter left downwind for runway 7L.' I reported entering the left downwind. Tower advised me; '#2 following another aircraft on base.' at approximately midfield; left downwind; I reported the 'base traffic in sight.' tower responded to 'follow aircraft on base; #2 to land.' I confirmed that I was #2 to land and proceeded to visually monitor aircraft on base leg; maintaining appropriate separation from other aircraft. There was no other traffic on base or final on either runway at that time. I turned final and proceeded to monitor #1 aircraft as he landed and I followed him; as instructed. I had not yet been cleared to land; so I contacted tower and advised; 'on short final; runway 7R.' tower responded; 'are you lined up on runway 7 right or left?' I responded that I was on 'runway 7 right' and I understood controller to say; 'cleared to land runway 7 left.' however; I was at the last moments of a stabilized approach; in a high performance airplane; and top have attempted to sidestep to the left runway would have been a serious pilot error. There were no runway conflicts; and I didn't want to compromise safety. I advised that I was landing on runway 7R and there were no further transmissions from controller. I taxied clear of the runway and contacted ground control. Controller instructed me to taxi to my parking and to telephone the tower which I did momentarily. When I telephoned the tower; he advised that I was not cleared to land on runway 7R and that the tower controller had told me to 'go-around.' I advised him that I did not hear any 'go around' instruction; but I didn't argue with him. During this very confusing time; there was never any danger of encroachment with any other aircraft. I maintained proper aircraft separation at all times. I believe this sequence of errors began as I attempted to 'follow' the aircraft on base. My airplane (lancair legacy L2K) was significantly faster than the airplane I was instructed to 'follow.' thus; my focus became one of maintaining adequate separation from this slower airplane; and I did not realize that he was landing on runway 7R instead of runway 7L during the landing sequence. An additional contributing factor relates to the fact that the tower controller seemed somewhat inexperienced and did not use the radar monitor to advise that I was aligned to land on the wrong runway. The tower controller seemed confused/exasperated by the fact that he was trying to control numerous aircraft in; or near; the landing pattern at the airport at the time. Controller issued conflicting instructions to me when they advised me to 'follow;' another aircraft which was apparently landing on a different runway; and then cleared me to land on the left runway (only moments before touchdown) while the airplane I was following had landed on the right runway. Aside from the events as stated above; I think a major contributing factor to this sequence of confusion relates to the fact that dvt has a very significant level of student pilot traffic. The vast majority of these students are foreign nationals. And; the vast majority of these students do not have adequate english language speaking skills. Often; the controllers have to ask them to repeat their radio calls before the controller can understand the student's intentions. Ultimately; the controllers do seem to comprehend what the students are saying; because the controllers become accustomed to their very basic 'utterances.' but; the controllers spend a great deal of time/attention in trying to interpret bad english as opposed to actually 'controlling' the air traffic. However; any pilot in the area who is not used to hearing this atrocious attempt on the part of the students to speak english; would have a hard time understanding the student's radio transmissions; and thus havegreat difficulty in understanding the location of the student pilot's aircraft at the time. Thus; the lack of language skills on the part of the dvt students played a major role in the incident reported herein. The controller of my flight was preoccupied with language issues with the student pilots and did an inadequate job of properly conveying her landing instructions to me. Controller also did an inadequate job of monitoring my aircraft's position on their radar screen. And; I erred by becoming too focused on the airplane I was instructed to follow; and by not asking the controller for clarification of her instructions to me. But the radio transmissions were difficult due to the 'foreign chatter' which distracted everyone involved. If the FAA continues to allow student pilot training to occur with foreign students who do not have spoken english language proficiency; a midair or other accident is imminent -- at dvt and all other united states airports where such training is occurring. All student pilots should be required to pass a spoken english proficiency examination prior to beginning flight training!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: L2K landing at DVT described wrong runway landing event; 7R vs. 7L; claiming high performance aircraft; language issues on the frequency; last minute ATC change of runway and controller performance as contributory.

Narrative: I contacted DVT Tower approximately 15 miles northeast of DVT. Tower responded; 'Report Cave Creek Dam.' I reported in when I was at the Cave Creek Dam; and Tower advised me to 'enter left downwind for Runway 7L.' I reported entering the left downwind. Tower advised me; '#2 following another aircraft on base.' At approximately midfield; left downwind; I reported the 'base traffic in sight.' Tower responded to 'follow aircraft on base; #2 to land.' I confirmed that I was #2 to land and proceeded to visually monitor aircraft on base leg; maintaining appropriate separation from other aircraft. There was no other traffic on base or final on either runway at that time. I turned final and proceeded to monitor #1 aircraft as he landed and I followed him; as instructed. I had not yet been cleared to land; so I contacted Tower and advised; 'On short final; Runway 7R.' Tower responded; 'Are you lined up on Runway 7 right or left?' I responded that I was on 'runway 7 right' and I understood Controller to say; 'cleared to land Runway 7 left.' However; I was at the last moments of a stabilized approach; in a high performance airplane; and top have attempted to sidestep to the left runway would have been a serious pilot error. There were NO runway conflicts; and I didn't want to compromise safety. I advised that I was landing on Runway 7R and there were no further transmissions from Controller. I taxied clear of the runway and contacted Ground Control. Controller instructed me to taxi to my parking and to telephone the Tower which I did momentarily. When I telephoned the Tower; he advised that I was not cleared to land on Runway 7R and that the Tower Controller had told me to 'go-around.' I advised him that I did not hear any 'go around' instruction; but I didn't argue with him. During this very confusing time; there was never any danger of encroachment with any other aircraft. I maintained proper aircraft separation at all times. I believe this sequence of errors began as I attempted to 'follow' the aircraft on base. My airplane (Lancair Legacy L2K) was significantly faster than the airplane I was instructed to 'follow.' Thus; my focus became one of maintaining adequate separation from this slower airplane; and I did not realize that he was landing on Runway 7R instead of Runway 7L during the landing sequence. An additional contributing factor relates to the fact that the Tower Controller seemed somewhat inexperienced and did not use the radar monitor to advise that I was aligned to land on the wrong runway. The Tower Controller seemed confused/exasperated by the fact that he was trying to control numerous aircraft in; or near; the landing pattern at the airport at the time. Controller issued conflicting instructions to me when they advised me to 'follow;' another aircraft which was apparently landing on a different runway; and then cleared me to land on the left runway (only moments before touchdown) while the airplane I was following had landed on the right runway. Aside from the events as stated above; I think a major contributing factor to this sequence of confusion relates to the fact that DVT has a very significant level of student pilot traffic. The vast majority of these students are foreign nationals. And; the vast majority of these students DO NOT HAVE ADEQUATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKING SKILLS. Often; the controllers have to ask them to repeat their radio calls before the controller can understand the student's intentions. Ultimately; the controllers do seem to comprehend what the students are saying; because the controllers become accustomed to their very basic 'utterances.' But; the controllers spend a great deal of time/attention in trying to interpret bad English as opposed to actually 'controlling' the air traffic. However; any pilot in the area who is not used to hearing this atrocious attempt on the part of the students to speak English; would have a hard time understanding the student's radio transmissions; and thus havegreat difficulty in understanding the location of the student pilot's aircraft at the time. Thus; the lack of language skills on the part of the DVT students played a major role in the incident reported herein. The Controller of my flight was preoccupied with language issues with the student pilots and did an inadequate job of properly conveying her landing instructions to me. Controller also did an inadequate job of monitoring my aircraft's position on their radar screen. And; I erred by becoming too focused on the airplane I was instructed to follow; and by not asking the Controller for clarification of her instructions to me. But the radio transmissions were difficult due to the 'foreign chatter' which distracted everyone involved. If the FAA continues to allow student pilot training to occur with foreign students who do not have spoken English language proficiency; a midair or other accident is imminent -- at DVT and all other United States airports where such training is occurring. All student pilots should be required to pass a spoken English proficiency examination prior to beginning flight training!

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.