Narrative:

The flight was IFR with no passengers. I have over 1;000 hours in this aircraft and completed an ipc 3 months prior to this flight. I do not fly in IMC frequently. The en route flight was at about 5;000 ft well above the tops of an overcast layer. As I approached the airport's aws weather was: wind 15014 gusts 20; ceiling 300 ft; visibility 1.5 SM. I felt very confident about making a good approach. As I entered the airport area I was flying with a 30 to 40 KT tailwind. Approach control issued me vectors to the approach course for the ILS runway 6 landing and cleared me down to 2;400 ft until on the final approach course where I was to descend to 2;200 ft. With the tailwind; when I turned onto the final approach course I felt that I was still high and fast. I extended the gear and approach flaps and was already in a descent as I passed over the final approach fix. Approach then instructed me to contact tower. I did not have the frequency preset and therefore commenced to change the frequency. I was hand flying the approach. Some nervousness entered the scenario at this time because I already felt I was behind the situation in the approach. In the process of trying to change the frequency I repeatedly misdialed the tower frequency -- changing the ones numbers when trying to change the tenths and vise versa. I unexplainably became fixated on this task while I continued forward and descended. I maintained my attitude but became; in retrospect; completely unaware of the final approach course; glideslope; and altitude. This seemed to go one for several minutes before I successfully entered the frequency; contacted tower and was warned I was below the glideslope. I realized I was left of course having been affected by the new stiff crosswind and at the same time began to make visual contact with the ground structures 300-500 ft below. My descent rate was minimal and after a course correction to the right and 20 to 30 seconds of flying in visual contact with the ground; I saw the runway and landed uneventfully. Factors that led to this chain of events were: a sense of being rushed because of failing to compensate for the tailwind and altitude; the inability to perform the simple task of changing a frequency; fixation on that task and then loss of situational awareness. Nowhere throughout the approach did the obvious correct decision to declare a missed approach and start the approach enter my mind. Fatigue; illness; personal problems; medication; vertigo; and get-there-itis were not factors in this occurrence. Despite mentally planning and setting up the approach prior to arriving; the last minute perceived rush led to task fixation and loss of situational awareness. Possible solutions: 1) more instrument approaches. 2) utilize autopilot. 3) fly the airplane first then communicate. 4) declare missed approach if distractions or deviations from correct flight path occur.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE36 pilot fixated on a frequency change to Tower while descending through 2;200 FT on an ILS and was notified by ATC of his low altitude.

Narrative: The flight was IFR with no passengers. I have over 1;000 hours in this aircraft and completed an IPC 3 months prior to this flight. I do not fly in IMC frequently. The en route flight was at about 5;000 FT well above the tops of an overcast layer. As I approached the airport's AWS weather was: wind 15014 gusts 20; ceiling 300 FT; visibility 1.5 SM. I felt very confident about making a good approach. As I entered the airport area I was flying with a 30 to 40 KT tailwind. Approach Control issued me vectors to the approach course for the ILS Runway 6 landing and cleared me down to 2;400 FT until on the final approach course where I was to descend to 2;200 FT. With the tailwind; when I turned onto the final approach course I felt that I was still high and fast. I extended the gear and approach flaps and was already in a descent as I passed over the final approach fix. Approach then instructed me to contact Tower. I did not have the frequency preset and therefore commenced to change the frequency. I was hand flying the approach. Some nervousness entered the scenario at this time because I already felt I was behind the situation in the approach. In the process of trying to change the frequency I repeatedly misdialed the Tower frequency -- changing the ones numbers when trying to change the tenths and vise versa. I unexplainably became fixated on this task while I continued forward and descended. I maintained my attitude but became; in retrospect; completely unaware of the final approach course; glideslope; and altitude. This seemed to go one for several minutes before I successfully entered the frequency; contacted Tower and was warned I was below the glideslope. I realized I was left of course having been affected by the new stiff crosswind and at the same time began to make visual contact with the ground structures 300-500 FT below. My descent rate was minimal and after a course correction to the right and 20 to 30 seconds of flying in visual contact with the ground; I saw the runway and landed uneventfully. Factors that led to this chain of events were: a sense of being rushed because of failing to compensate for the tailwind and altitude; the inability to perform the simple task of changing a frequency; fixation on that task and then loss of situational awareness. Nowhere throughout the approach did the obvious correct decision to declare a missed approach and start the approach enter my mind. Fatigue; illness; personal problems; medication; vertigo; and get-there-itis were not factors in this occurrence. Despite mentally planning and setting up the approach prior to arriving; the last minute perceived rush led to task fixation and loss of situational awareness. Possible solutions: 1) more instrument approaches. 2) Utilize autopilot. 3) Fly the airplane first then communicate. 4) Declare missed approach if distractions or deviations from correct flight path occur.

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.