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A commercial fixed wing aircraft experienced a GPWS terrain warning on a visual approach to bhm.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 876837 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201003 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | BHM.Airport |
| State Reference | AL |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
On the visual approach to runway 36 at bhm; as we passed over a ridge (radar altimeter had just called 500 feet over what appeared to be the highest point) approximately 3 miles from the airport; the GPWS alert 'terrain; terrain' followed by 'whoop; whoop; pull up' briefly sounded. As we had acquired the airport 15 miles out and at this point had a clear straight line view to the touch down zone of runway 36; we were a bit confused. Before I (as the flying pilot) could initiate an escape maneuver; the alarm stopped (only lasted 2 seconds). I leveled off briefly and; in the absence of further GPWS callouts; continued the visual descent to runway 36. As we were on a visual approach; we had loaded the visual approach into the GPS. Additionally; we had enabled the snowflake. Although aware that the snowflake does not provide terrain separation; we typically attempt to follow the snowflake so as to descend at an appropriate descent rate. As we approached runway 36; I had been maneuvering the aircraft to keep the flight path well clear of the ridge. As a backup; I also attempted to keep the snowflake centered. Apparently; this is one of those situations where following the snowflake will cause the aircraft to penetrate the GPWS terrain parameters for this runway.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A commercial fixed wing aircraft experienced a GPWS TERRAIN warning on a visual approach to BHM.
Narrative: On the visual approach to Runway 36 at BHM; as we passed over a ridge (radar altimeter had just called 500 feet over what appeared to be the highest point) approximately 3 miles from the airport; the GPWS alert 'Terrain; Terrain' followed by 'Whoop; Whoop; Pull Up' briefly sounded. As we had acquired the airport 15 miles out and at this point had a clear straight line view to the touch down zone of Runway 36; we were a bit confused. Before I (as the flying pilot) could initiate an escape maneuver; the alarm stopped (only lasted 2 seconds). I leveled off briefly and; in the absence of further GPWS callouts; continued the visual descent to Runway 36. As we were on a visual approach; we had loaded the visual approach into the GPS. Additionally; we had enabled the snowflake. Although aware that the snowflake does not provide terrain separation; we typically attempt to follow the snowflake so as to descend at an appropriate descent rate. As we approached Runway 36; I had been maneuvering the aircraft to keep the flight path well clear of the ridge. As a backup; I also attempted to keep the snowflake centered. Apparently; this is one of those situations where following the snowflake will cause the aircraft to penetrate the GPWS terrain parameters for this runway.
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.