Narrative:

Flight to dca was dispatched with no alternate. During the arrival and vectors for the river visual 19; we watched a thunderstorm cell on the radar east of the airport and we suspected it was moving toward the field. On downwind; the captain told the dispatcher that iad would be our alternate. I had the iad approach plates ready. As we were vectored to final; we listened to ATC's communications; a preceding airliner's report; and watched the radar. From this information we felt that the storm was moving closer to the field. We had visual contact with the potomac river and we were subsequently cleared the river visual runway 19. The tower controller read a partial new ATIS noting rain falling but omitted the visibility. The captain requested a PIREP from the preceding aircraft. I requested the visibility and tower stated '3 miles' which is adequate for the approach; but is the minimum. Another air carrier preceded us by several minutes; although they reported good visibility; they also reported some moderate rain near the field (perhaps on final). We had the river and the airport in sight throughout the approach. Between the darkness and the apparent reduction in visibility; acquiring runway 19 was a challenge. While we were maintaining visual with the airport environment and searching for runway 19; the tower stated; '(garbled)...are you lining up on 19 or 15?' he paused '...you're cleared to land on 19 or 15; your choice.' a runway was in front of us and we were on its visual glide path. I glanced at the HSI to check our orientation and saw us near a 150 heading. I stated to the captain; 'this isn't right; lets go-around'; followed with a second 'go-around' statement to be clear; however it was unnecessary because the captain was already initiating the go-around with the autothrottle. As we had previously briefed; we requested vectors to iad. The weather at dca deteriorated rapidly. While on downwind to iad's 19L; I noticed dca's latest ATIS pop up on ACARS reading +tsrn. We landed at iad; completed our post-diversion checklist; refueled and were dispatched back to dca. Prior to pushback; the storm had moved away from dca and their latest ATIS indicated ILS runway 1 approach operations were being conducted; though the visibility was VMC. We departed iad and landed a short time later on runway 1 at dca. Post note: words within quotations are approximation of what was said/heard. Contributing factors to lining up with an incorrect runway resulting in a missed approach: difficult visual approach procedure; darkness; two closely situated lit runways; reduced visibility; an approaching storm; a long duty day (12 hours/4 legs with delays) and this was my first time for this particular approach to dca.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier First Officer described a visual approach to DCA that resulted in a go-around and divert when an approaching thunderstorm complicated the procedure.

Narrative: Flight to DCA was dispatched with no alternate. During the arrival and vectors for the River Visual 19; we watched a thunderstorm cell on the radar east of the airport and we suspected it was moving toward the field. On downwind; the Captain told the dispatcher that IAD would be our alternate. I had the IAD approach plates ready. As we were vectored to final; we listened to ATC's communications; a preceding airliner's report; and watched the radar. From this information we felt that the storm was moving closer to the field. We had visual contact with the Potomac River and we were subsequently cleared the River Visual Runway 19. The Tower Controller read a partial new ATIS noting rain falling but omitted the visibility. The Captain requested a PIREP from the preceding aircraft. I requested the visibility and tower stated '3 miles' which is adequate for the approach; but is the minimum. Another air carrier preceded us by several minutes; although they reported good visibility; they also reported some moderate rain near the field (perhaps on final). We had the river and the airport in sight throughout the approach. Between the darkness and the apparent reduction in visibility; acquiring Runway 19 was a challenge. While we were maintaining visual with the airport environment and searching for Runway 19; the tower stated; '(garbled)...Are you lining up on 19 or 15?' he paused '...You're cleared to land on 19 or 15; your choice.' A runway was in front of us and we were on its visual glide path. I glanced at the HSI to check our orientation and saw us near a 150 heading. I stated to the Captain; 'this isn't right; lets go-around'; followed with a second 'go-around' statement to be clear; however it was unnecessary because the Captain was already initiating the go-around with the autothrottle. As we had previously briefed; we requested vectors to IAD. The weather at DCA deteriorated rapidly. While on downwind to IAD's 19L; I noticed DCA's latest ATIS pop up on ACARS reading +TSRN. We landed at IAD; completed our Post-Diversion Checklist; refueled and were dispatched back to DCA. Prior to pushback; the storm had moved away from DCA and their latest ATIS indicated ILS Runway 1 approach operations were being conducted; though the visibility was VMC. We departed IAD and landed a short time later on Runway 1 at DCA. Post note: Words within quotations are approximation of what was said/heard. Contributing factors to lining up with an incorrect runway resulting in a missed approach: difficult visual approach procedure; darkness; two closely situated lit runways; reduced visibility; an approaching storm; a long duty day (12 hours/4 legs with delays) and this was my first time for this particular approach to DCA.

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.