An IFR PA28 pilot requested and attempted a visual approach to an airport sighted by a passenger onl...

Attributes
ACN	898174
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 1600 Flight Crew Type 1300
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

We were being vectored for ILS to runway 15. Right seat passenger (former pilot) observed airport at [ten o'clock] and suggested we request visual approach 'airport in sight'. Orientation of runway and location consistent with ILS vector so I requested the visual. Controller said it would take a minute to arrange and then cleared me for the visual. I had to forward slip the plane down to pattern altitude; but turned base and final normally. On short final right seat passenger said airport didn't look right. At the same time I saw we were landing on runway 12 instead of 15. [I] initiated immediate go-around. Tower called and wanted to know where we were. I told her we'd tried to land at the wrong airport and she handed me back to approach which cleared us again for the visual and we landed normally at the correct airport. There was no traffic at the other airport so the only consequence was embarrassment. In the future I'll make sure I know where I am before I request the visual to a new airport. I got snookered by the similarity between the two runways and ATC didn't catch my error. [It was] my mistake.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An IFR PA28 pilot requested and attempted a visual approach to an airport sighted by a passenger only to discover on final approach it was not the airport of intended landing.

Narrative: We were being vectored for ILS to Runway 15. Right seat passenger (former pilot) observed airport at [ten o'clock] and suggested we request visual approach 'airport in sight'. Orientation of runway and location consistent with ILS vector so I requested the visual. Controller said it would take a minute to arrange and then cleared me for the visual. I had to forward slip the plane down to pattern altitude; but turned base and final normally. On short final right seat passenger said airport didn't look right. At the same time I saw we were landing on Runway 12 instead of 15. [I] initiated immediate go-around. Tower called and wanted to know where we were. I told her we'd tried to land at the wrong airport and she handed me back to Approach which cleared us again for the visual and we landed normally at the correct airport. There was no traffic at the other airport so the only consequence was embarrassment. In the future I'll make sure I know where I am before I request the visual to a new airport. I got snookered by the similarity between the two runways and ATC didn't catch my error. [It was] my mistake.

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.