Narrative:

I received a briefing from flight service 800 WX brief a day prior to flight. I told the briefer that I was going to ZZZ with a fuel stop at T78. The weather forecast for T78 did not require an alternate airport. The briefer omitted the NOTAMS for T78 in my briefing. The briefer submitted two IFR flight plans one to T78 and one for T78 to ZZZ. The ATC system accepted both flight plans. When I neared T78 in the clouds at 3000 ft; I asked houston approach if I could have the visual approach. He stated that the bottoms were at 1800 ft and that I would need to fly the VOR-a approach. At about XA30 CDT; he cleared me for the VOR-a approach to T78 at 2000 ft. I was in the clouds during the first portion of the approach. I flew the approach and broke out in a moderate mist; which appeared to have a visibility of about 3 miles. After visually spotting the airport; I cancelled the IFR flight plan and switched to the advisory frequency. I made a call in the blind to traffic and received no response as usual. I had landed at this airport many times. The T78 CTAF is not monitored; the field is unattended; and the elevation is 70 ft. The T78 VOR-a approach heading is 198 or between a straight-in final and a left base to runway 16. At about 2 miles; I noticed that runway 16 was closed with a yellow X. Workmen were on the runway near the north end. I didn't know if only the runway was closed or if the entire airport was closed. The taxiway which was nearer to me than the runway was not marked closed. I didn't understand how an IFR flight plan could terminate at a closed airport. My VFR GPS had shown many towers and two tall towers to my east. The houston class B airspace was to my west. The cloud bottoms were 1800 ft which would require MVFR flight at 1300 ft or below for cloud clearance. I was uncomfortable with the visibility and the low altitude flying to another airport. I decided that the safest thing to do was to land on the apparently open taxiway. When the runway was closed for repairs at my home airport; the taxiway was used as the active runway. I landed on the taxiway several times. For this reason; I decided that it was safer for me to land on the T78 taxiway (which was not marked closed) than to fly off to another airport in the marginal conditions. I stayed off of the airport property - more than 500 feet from the workmen - and landed on the south end of taxiway. The runway and taxiway were both 3800 ft long and there was plenty of room for a normal landing on the taxiway. I taxied up to the self-service gas pump and stopped the engine. After a few minutes; a pickup drove up and the driver; who identified himself as the contractor; asked if I knew that the airport was closed. He stated that they were working on the runway lights. I told him that I had been on an IFR flight plan. I asked if I could depart on the taxiway and he said yes. He called the airport manager on his cell phone. He handed me his cell phone and I explained to the airport manager that I had been on an IFR flight plan to this airport. He stated that he would call forth worth to determine if the NOTAM was still in effect. He stated that the NOTAM; which closes the airport during the week; had been in effect for about one month. My choice was between (1) making an obviously safe landing on a perfectly good taxiway which I had done before at my home base or (2) flying to another airport in marginal VFR at the low altitude of 1300 ft and reduced visibility. Complicating the marginal VFR flight was the nearby class B airspace and numerous towers. As PIC; I believe that I made the safest choice. Another complication was the unmarked taxiway. Small airports can close their only runway for repairs and use the taxiway for the active runway. If the airport is totally closed; the taxiway should also be marked as closed. Closing just the runway is ambiguous. I would not have landed on a closed taxiway. Another alternative would have been to climb to 1300 feet; keeping the airport in sight; and re-contact houston approach. This may or many not have been possible. After refueling; I took off uneventfully and departed to the north to pickup my next IFR flight plan; which I did. After I landed at my destination; a representative in the fort worth flight service station contacted me on my cell phone. He said that he had listened to my flight briefing and that the ATC system had made two errors. The first error was creating an IFR flight plan that terminated at a closed airport. The second error was that houston approach should not have cleared me for the approach to a closed airport. I have 3066 flight hours and have been flying for about 25 years. I have never heard of this happening before. No knowledge about the best course of action had ever come to my attention. However; my decisions were safe.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot filed an IFR flight plan to and landed at a closed airport after the FSS Briefer did not identify it as closed by NOTAM. In addition; ATC cleared his aircraft for an IFR approach while still in positive control and did not note the airport's closure.

Narrative: I received a briefing from flight service 800 WX BRIEF a day prior to flight. I told the briefer that I was going to ZZZ with a fuel stop at T78. The weather forecast for T78 did not require an alternate airport. The Briefer omitted the NOTAMS for T78 in my briefing. The Briefer submitted two IFR flight plans one to T78 and one for T78 to ZZZ. The ATC System accepted both flight plans. When I neared T78 in the clouds at 3000 FT; I asked Houston Approach if I could have the visual approach. He stated that the bottoms were at 1800 FT and that I would need to fly the VOR-A approach. At about XA30 CDT; he cleared me for the VOR-A approach to T78 at 2000 FT. I was in the clouds during the first portion of the approach. I flew the approach and broke out in a moderate mist; which appeared to have a visibility of about 3 miles. After visually spotting the airport; I cancelled the IFR flight plan and switched to the advisory frequency. I made a call in the blind to traffic and received no response as usual. I had landed at this airport many times. The T78 CTAF is not monitored; the field is unattended; and the elevation is 70 FT. The T78 VOR-A approach heading is 198 or between a straight-in final and a left base to Runway 16. At about 2 miles; I noticed that Runway 16 was closed with a yellow X. Workmen were on the runway near the north end. I didn't know if only the runway was closed or if the entire airport was closed. The taxiway which was nearer to me than the runway was not marked closed. I didn't understand how an IFR flight plan could terminate at a closed airport. My VFR GPS had shown many towers and two tall towers to my east. The Houston Class B airspace was to my west. The cloud bottoms were 1800 FT which would require MVFR flight at 1300 FT or below for cloud clearance. I was uncomfortable with the visibility and the low altitude flying to another airport. I decided that the safest thing to do was to land on the apparently open taxiway. When the runway was closed for repairs at my home airport; the taxiway was used as the active runway. I landed on the taxiway several times. For this reason; I decided that it was safer for me to land on the T78 taxiway (which was not marked closed) than to fly off to another airport in the marginal conditions. I stayed off of the airport property - more than 500 feet from the workmen - and landed on the south end of taxiway. The runway and taxiway were both 3800 FT long and there was plenty of room for a normal landing on the taxiway. I taxied up to the self-service gas pump and stopped the engine. After a few minutes; a pickup drove up and the driver; who identified himself as the contractor; asked if I knew that the airport was closed. He stated that they were working on the runway lights. I told him that I had been on an IFR flight plan. I asked if I could depart on the taxiway and he said yes. He called the airport manager on his cell phone. He handed me his cell phone and I explained to the airport manager that I had been on an IFR flight plan to this airport. He stated that he would call Forth Worth to determine if the NOTAM was still in effect. He stated that the NOTAM; which closes the airport during the week; had been in effect for about one month. My choice was between (1) making an obviously safe landing on a perfectly good taxiway which I had done before at my home base or (2) flying to another airport in Marginal VFR at the low altitude of 1300 FT and reduced visibility. Complicating the Marginal VFR flight was the nearby Class B airspace and numerous towers. As PIC; I believe that I made the safest choice. Another complication was the unmarked taxiway. Small airports can close their only runway for repairs and use the taxiway for the active runway. If the airport is totally closed; the taxiway should also be marked as closed. Closing just the runway is ambiguous. I would not have landed on a closed taxiway. Another alternative would have been to climb to 1300 feet; keeping the airport in sight; and re-contact Houston Approach. This may or many not have been possible. After refueling; I took off uneventfully and departed to the north to pickup my next IFR flight plan; which I did. After I landed at my destination; A representative in the Fort Worth Flight Service Station contacted me on my cell phone. He said that he had listened to my flight briefing and that the ATC System had made two errors. The first error was creating an IFR flight plan that terminated at a closed airport. The second error was that Houston Approach should not have cleared me for the approach to a closed airport. I have 3066 flight hours and have been flying for about 25 years. I have never heard of this happening before. No knowledge about the best course of action had ever come to my attention. However; my decisions were safe.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.