An air carrier pilot reported after successfully landing a catiii approach the crew discovered the r...

Narrative:

After performing a CAT III approach it was discovered that the center line (cl) lights were NOTAM'd out of service prior to beginning the approach but turned out to be operational during the landing. While descending the current ATIS showed a 200 foot ceiling with 1/4 mile visibility. It also mentioned that the lead-off lights were extra bright. ATC mentioned that other aircraft were making it in; but were reporting the ceiling to be right at minimums. The RVR received from the tower was well within limits. With the above information we elected to perform a CAT III approach.the pilot flying briefed the approach and all checklists were run. The approach was successful having obtained the required visible items between 100 ft. And 200 ft. After exiting the runway a company aircraft; who was 50 miles away; queried the tower about the center lights being NOTAM'd out. Tower did state that the NOTAM for the centerline lights had been removed about one minute prior to this other aircraft's call. It was at that point we realized an error had been made by beginning the approach with the cl being OTS (out of service); only to have NOTAM technically be cleared during our final approach.factors I believe that contributed to our mistake. Failed to notice the NOTAM for 'cl OTS'. Absence of the centerline lights being OTS in the ATIS. The ATIS specifically mentioning the lead off lights being 'extra bright' led us to believe the centerline lights were functioning as this is one of the components of CAT III approaches. No mention of required runway lighting under the approach review items.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier pilot reported after successfully landing a CATIII approach the crew discovered the runway centerline lights were NOTAM'd out of service at the time they began their approach but began working by short final.

Narrative: After performing a CAT III approach it was discovered that the Center Line (CL) lights were NOTAM'd out of service prior to beginning the approach but turned out to be operational during the landing. While descending the current ATIS showed a 200 foot ceiling with 1/4 mile visibility. It also mentioned that the lead-off lights were extra bright. ATC mentioned that other aircraft were making it in; but were reporting the ceiling to be right at minimums. The RVR received from the Tower was well within limits. With the above information we elected to perform a CAT III approach.The Pilot Flying briefed the approach and all checklists were run. The approach was successful having obtained the required visible items between 100 ft. and 200 ft. After exiting the runway a Company aircraft; who was 50 miles away; queried the Tower about the center lights being NOTAM'd out. Tower did state that the NOTAM for the centerline lights had been removed about one minute prior to this other aircraft's call. It was at that point we realized an error had been made by beginning the approach with the CL being OTS (Out of Service); only to have NOTAM technically be cleared during our final approach.Factors I believe that contributed to our mistake. Failed to notice the NOTAM for 'CL OTS'. Absence of the centerline lights being OTS in the ATIS. The ATIS specifically mentioning the lead off lights being 'Extra Bright' led us to believe the centerline lights were functioning as this is one of the components of CAT III approaches. No mention of required runway lighting under the approach review items.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1718665
Time
Date	202001
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	HOU.Tower
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Other CAT III Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 497
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

An air carrier pilot reported after successfully landing a catiii approach the crew discovered the runway centerline lights were NOTAM'd out of service at the time they began their approach but began working by short final.