A pilot reported mistaking sch runway 22 for alb runway 19 and descending toward sch only to have AT...

Narrative:

I was on an IFR flight plan arriving in VMC into albany (alb) from canada to clear customs. It was my first single pilot trip in this aircraft type. We normally fly two pilots at all times however this particular trip was a 91 trip so two pilots weren't used. Albany approach cleared me to approximately 4;000 to 5;000 ft about 25 miles north of alb. I was set up for the ILS 1 at albany. As I got closer albany approach asked me if I had albany airport in sight at 12 o'clock and if so I could have the visual for albany's southbound runway 19. I said yes and was cleared the visual 19. I did have what I thought was the airport in sight exactly at my 12 o'clock. The airport I had in sight was not albany. It was schenectady county airport (sch). Sch also has a long southbound runway just like albany. Approach passed me off to tower and as I was descending towards sch's southbound runway albany tower asked me if I had albany in sight because it appeared I was heading towards sch. I said no and asked for a vector to albany. I flew that heading; brought the flaps and gear up and finally visually saw albany airport about 10 miles to the east of my position. I landed runway 19 at albany. I did not have the correct runway in sight. Contributing factors -single pilot operation - I have less experience with single pilot operation due to our almost 100% crew flight operations under normal operating condition. Not performing an approach to the runway I originally intended on using (ILS 1). I had planned and briefed the ILS 1. Unknowingly I was actually less prepared than I thought to perform an approach to a new runway even though conditions were VFR at the time. Not setting up an approach for 19 as additional guidance. I always set up and approach for every runway at every airport for additional situational awareness but for some reason I did not do it this time; the controller calling the airport at 12 o'clock which by coincidence was sch and not alb. Overall; I let myself get out of my routine. When that happened naturally we are more prone to mistakes. I can't explain why I did not set up an approach to 19 but perhaps there wasn't enough time to set one up. If I had just programmed even the GPS 19 I would have had more situational awareness and probably not had the problem that I did.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot reported mistaking SCH Runway 22 for ALB Runway 19 and descending toward SCH only to have ATC query his position which reoriented him toward the correct airport.

Narrative: I was on an IFR flight plan arriving in VMC into Albany (ALB) from Canada to clear customs. It was my first single pilot trip in this aircraft type. We normally fly two pilots at all times however this particular trip was a 91 trip so two pilots weren't used. Albany Approach cleared me to approximately 4;000 to 5;000 FT about 25 miles north of ALB. I was set up for the ILS 1 at Albany. As I got closer Albany Approach asked me if I had Albany airport in sight at 12 o'clock and if so I could have the visual for Albany's southbound Runway 19. I said yes and was cleared the visual 19. I did have what I thought was the airport in sight exactly at my 12 o'clock. The airport I had in sight was not Albany. It was Schenectady County Airport (SCH). SCH also has a long southbound runway just like Albany. Approach passed me off to Tower and as I was descending towards SCH's southbound runway Albany Tower asked me if I had Albany in sight because it appeared I was heading towards SCH. I said no and asked for a vector to Albany. I flew that heading; brought the flaps and gear up and finally visually saw Albany airport about 10 miles to the east of my position. I landed Runway 19 at Albany. I did not have the correct runway in sight. Contributing Factors -single pilot operation - I have less experience with single pilot operation due to our almost 100% crew flight operations under normal operating condition. Not performing an approach to the Runway I originally intended on using (ILS 1). I had planned and briefed the ILS 1. Unknowingly I was actually less prepared than I thought to perform an approach to a new runway even though conditions were VFR at the time. Not setting up an approach for 19 as additional guidance. I always set up and approach for every runway at every airport for additional situational awareness but for some reason I did not do it this time; the Controller calling the airport at 12 o'clock which by coincidence was SCH and not ALB. Overall; I let myself get out of my routine. When that happened naturally we are more prone to mistakes. I can't explain why I did not set up an approach to 19 but perhaps there wasn't enough time to set one up. If I had just programmed even the GPS 19 I would have had more situational awareness and probably not had the problem that I did.

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.

Attributes
ACN	954230
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ALB.Tower
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 3000 Flight Crew Type 275
Events
Anomaly	Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

A pilot reported mistaking sch runway 22 for alb runway 19 and descending toward sch only to have ATC query his position which reoriented him toward the correct airport.