A B757-200 captain encountered an autoflight false localizer capture 12 NM east of the runway 36R lo...

Narrative:

Our clearance was to proceed direct to hadan and intercept the localizer for runway 36R at mem. We were proceeding west; direct to hadan at the time. About 12 miles east of hadan waypoint we got a false localizer capture abeam olive branch airport. I noticed it immediately and disconnected the autopilot and hand flew toward hadan; without any course deviation. We reported the false localizer to ATC and the controller advised us that it is a recurring problem for runway 36R at mem and that he would report the problem. Approaching hadan I reconnected the autopilot in LNAV; we reselected the localizer to mem 36R and it captured normally. There was no deviation from course or altitude but capturing a false localizer has been a recurring problem to this runway based on reading flight safety reports. The FAA needs to de-conflict the localizer frequencies or take some measure to prevent a repeated problem. Perhaps a NOTAM is in order until a more permanent solution is found.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 Captain encountered an autoflight false localizer capture 12 NM east of the Runway 36R localizer at MEM; a recurring problem per the Tower. Operating in VMC; he disconnected autoflight and continued to a normal intercept; approach and landing.

Narrative: Our clearance was to proceed direct to HADAN and intercept the localizer for Runway 36R at MEM. We were proceeding west; direct to HADAN at the time. About 12 miles east of HADAN waypoint we got a false localizer capture abeam Olive Branch airport. I noticed it immediately and disconnected the autopilot and hand flew toward HADAN; without any course deviation. We reported the false localizer to ATC and the Controller advised us that it is a recurring problem for Runway 36R at MEM and that he would report the problem. Approaching HADAN I reconnected the autopilot in LNAV; we reselected the localizer to MEM 36R and it captured normally. There was no deviation from course or altitude but capturing a false localizer has been a recurring problem to this runway based on reading flight safety reports. The FAA needs to de-conflict the localizer frequencies or take some measure to prevent a repeated problem. Perhaps a NOTAM is in order until a more permanent solution is found.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	1064626
Time
Date	201301
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	MEM.Airport
State Reference	TN
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

A B757-200 captain encountered an autoflight false localizer capture 12 NM east of the runway 36R localizer at mem; a recurring problem per the tower. Operating in VMC; he disconnected autoflight and continued to a normal intercept; approach and landing.