Narrative:

Arriving into lax on RIIVR6 arrival; we were vectored off the arrival for spacing and we flew into wake turbulence of aircraft we were following. Advised ATC and were given another vector to allow more spacing. We were then cleared direct gramm RIIVR6; [and] at riivr cleared ILS 25L approach; cross gramm at FL180. First officer read back this clearance. Handed off to next controller shortly thereafter and checked in with crossing clearance at gramm. I don't remember if the arrival and runway were mentioned to new controller. We hit the preceding aircraft's wake a second time and advised controller and he cautioned us of wake turbulence stating we were following a B-757 on the arrival and were 8 miles in trail. ATC advised us of another aircraft from our south that would be keeping visual separation on us and to confirm we were on the runway 24R localizer. First officer stated we were on the runway 25L localizer and that is what we read back to previous controller. ATC then gave us clearance direct skoll intersection to join runway 24R localizer. We complied and landed uneventfully on runway 24R. Controllers seemed very busy as they usually are in the la basin and it was almost nonstop radio chatter. Captain briefed RIIVR6 STAR and ILS runway 25L approach prior to descent clearances. Upon receipt of clearance from first controller we both agreed that we were cleared as briefed. There was no question about the clearance in our minds or we would have questioned the controller just as we did after receiving the clearance to cross gramm at FL180. This was due to the fact we were assigned 250 KIAS and the plate states the crossing speed is 280 KIAS over the fix. It seems there was some distraction with the controller on the wake turbulence separation issue we were having. We felt we were on the correct localizer after the controller stated we were following the aircraft ahead of us on the arrival; that aircraft landed on runway 25L. It seems there was a miscommunication involved in this event. Where exactly it happened; I cannot determine. I will in the future make sure I check on to the final controller with the descent clearance we were cleared and well as the name of the STAR and the ILS landing runway we were cleared to catch any future errors earlier in the flight. We are still wondering whether the new clearance to change to approach and land on runway 24R was due to the continued wake turbulence encounters we were experiencing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 flight crew reported ATC route confusion and a wake vortex encounter on arrival into LAX.

Narrative: Arriving into LAX on RIIVR6 arrival; we were vectored off the arrival for spacing and we flew into wake turbulence of aircraft we were following. Advised ATC and were given another vector to allow more spacing. We were then cleared direct GRAMM RIIVR6; [and] at RIIVR cleared ILS 25L approach; cross GRAMM at FL180. First Officer read back this clearance. Handed off to next Controller shortly thereafter and checked in with crossing clearance at GRAMM. I don't remember if the arrival and runway were mentioned to new Controller. We hit the preceding aircraft's wake a second time and advised Controller and he cautioned us of wake turbulence stating we were following a B-757 on the arrival and were 8 miles in trail. ATC advised us of another aircraft from our south that would be keeping visual separation on us and to confirm we were on the Runway 24R localizer. First Officer stated we were on the Runway 25L localizer and that is what we read back to previous Controller. ATC then gave us clearance direct SKOLL intersection to join Runway 24R localizer. We complied and landed uneventfully on Runway 24R. Controllers seemed very busy as they usually are in the LA basin and it was almost nonstop radio chatter. Captain briefed RIIVR6 STAR and ILS Runway 25L approach prior to descent clearances. Upon receipt of clearance from first Controller we both agreed that we were cleared as briefed. There was no question about the clearance in our minds or we would have questioned the Controller just as we did after receiving the clearance to cross GRAMM at FL180. This was due to the fact we were assigned 250 KIAS and the plate states the crossing speed is 280 KIAS over the fix. It seems there was some distraction with the Controller on the wake turbulence separation issue we were having. We felt we were on the correct localizer after the Controller stated we were following the aircraft ahead of us on the arrival; that aircraft landed on Runway 25L. It seems there was a miscommunication involved in this event. Where exactly it happened; I cannot determine. I will in the future make sure I check on to the Final Controller with the descent clearance we were cleared and well as the name of the STAR and the ILS landing runway we were cleared to catch any future errors earlier in the flight. We are still wondering whether the new clearance to change to approach and land on Runway 24R was due to the continued wake turbulence encounters we were experiencing.

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.