CRJ50 flight crew arriving azo reports the field in sight to ATC and is cleared for the visual appro...

Narrative:

On a heading of 270 at 2;500 ft MSL approximately 6 miles southeast of azo; the first officer (pilot flying) and myself both saw the field. Approach control was notified and a visual approach clearance was given. We were then told to contact azo tower. Tower cleared us to land. First officer stated; 'FMS is wrong; green needle is already through the course.' he then looked outside at 3 o'clock; saw btl; and began turning. The green needle for ILS 35; iazo 110.9; showed we were west of course needing to turn northeast. When first officer looked out and saw btl more clearly he continued turn. I listened to the morse code for a second time and confirmed it was correct as tower called and queried our northeast heading. ATC stated; 'it looks like you are heading toward battle creek.' I then looked up from my chart; noted azo at 10:30 position to the first officer; and answered ATC. With azo positively in sight; tower told us to turn back to a 270 heading; I confirmed we had the airport; and he again cleared us to land. An uneventful landing than followed and no altitude deviation occurred or TCAS event. All this happened after being cleared for the visual approach to runway 35.weather was clear and seeing btl added confusion to our visual approach. The green needle for the ILS 35 into azo was deflecting in the wrong direction; giving the first officer indication we had flown through the localizer. I should have had my head up looking outside more to add clarity. I was aware btl was close; not sure if he did.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ50 flight crew arriving AZO reports the field in sight to ATC and is cleared for the visual approach. The crew actually had BTL in sight; but ATC sets them right. The LOC CDI was deflected to the right which confused the First Officer.

Narrative: On a heading of 270 at 2;500 FT MSL approximately 6 miles southeast of AZO; the First Officer (pilot flying) and myself both saw the field. Approach Control was notified and a visual approach clearance was given. We were then told to contact AZO Tower. Tower cleared us to land. First Officer stated; 'FMS is wrong; green needle is already through the course.' He then looked outside at 3 o'clock; saw BTL; and began turning. The green needle for ILS 35; IAZO 110.9; showed we were west of course needing to turn NE. When First Officer looked out and saw BTL more clearly he continued turn. I listened to the Morse code for a second time and confirmed it was correct as Tower called and queried our NE heading. ATC stated; 'It looks like you are heading toward Battle Creek.' I then looked up from my chart; noted AZO at 10:30 position to the First Officer; and answered ATC. With AZO positively in sight; Tower told us to turn back to a 270 heading; I confirmed we had the airport; and he again cleared us to land. An uneventful landing than followed and no altitude deviation occurred or TCAS event. All this happened after being cleared for the visual approach to Runway 35.Weather was clear and seeing BTL added confusion to our visual approach. The green needle for the ILS 35 into AZO was deflecting in the wrong direction; giving the First Officer indication we had flown through the localizer. I should have had my head up looking outside more to add clarity. I was aware BTL was close; not sure if he 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	958009
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	AZO.Airport
State Reference	MI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet CL65 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 125 Flight Crew Total 7250 Flight Crew Type 6200
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 2500 Flight Crew Type 1500
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

CRJ50 flight crew arriving azo reports the field in sight to ATC and is cleared for the visual approach. The crew actually had btl in sight; but ATC sets them right. The localizer CDI was deflected to the right which confused the first officer.