Narrative:

Map shift -- safety. Arrived at pop at AB00 local time. Had built an approach VOR runway 26. On outbound leg, I noticed the map and the raw data did not match. Went with raw data. Turned inbound at what I thought was 8 mi based on the FMC progress page. As a side note, the DME is out, and has been out for some time. On final, descending, I felt high and saw white over white on PAPI. At that point I realized we were much closer than the box indicated. Missed approach followed with a turn downwind and a realization that a 4 mi map shift had taken place. The conditions were no clouds, but the ever-present haze was causing perception problems with red over white showing at 200 ft. A 'terrain, terrain, pull up' warning sounded. With the concrete in sight and being 100% sure of my location, I elected to land. On rollout, I noticed the field picture 4 mi to my left and my aircraft symbol landing in the water. On the way down from new york, the IRS could have updated at gtk, pls or cdo. I do not know why we had a map shift. In my 4 1/2 yrs on the airbus I have never seen this. Also, with no DME at pop, no PAPI on runway 8, and the possibility of another map shift, I believe this is a dangerous operation. I have been to pop many times in my 13 yrs with the air carrier. I fear a new captain with a new hire first officer at AB30-AC00 local time could find themselves with more than they can handle. This place is an accident in search of a crew. I recommend we suspend night operations into pop until the DME is fixed or the PAPI's are fixed and calibrated for both runways. Please call me if you have any questions. Supplemental information from acn 443804: I accomplished preflight including full alignment of IRU's to gate co-ord. Flight path for most of trip appeared normal. Our aircraft aligned almost perfectly with other FMS aircraft on the airway. On arrival, I briefed VOR runway 26 approach. I built this approach in the following manner because the database approach is the VOR/DME utilizing arc transition. First I built the course reversal. Then I built pta 063 degree radial 8 DME then pta 083 degree radial 8.0 DME followed by pta and then inserted the map. WX in the area was fair VFR. No restr to visibility. Configured aircraft to flaps 20 degrees, 180 KTS. Completed a course reversal. My plan was to go outbound descending to 2300 ft. Once passing 8 mi inbound I was going to set vertical speed 700 down, intercept PAPI and land. I was planning using map mode and asked captain (PNF) to stay in raw data. After completing a course reversal it became obvious something was incorrect with map display. I was showing myself slightly north of course while RMI and cas raw data showed south. Immediately reverted to raw data. We assumed I (despite triplechking amongst ourselves) had entered the waypoints incorrectly. While using raw we referred to the FMS brg/distance on the progress page as the DME was inoperative. When turned around and established, I started down at 700 FPM. We broke out and appeared very high. I thought we could work it out, but after continuing a little longer (1000 ft afl) captain told me to go around, which was a good call on his part. We were then cleared for a visual and I went to 1500 ft north of the field and entered a right downwind for runway 26, then intercepted PAPI and flew 1 red over 3 white. At approximately 200 ft with landing lights illuminating runway and ocean only, the GPWS went nuts. It said 'too low terrain, terrain,' etc and scared the beezgeebers out of us. Since we could see no obstacles and the runway was in plain sight under VFR, we landed. I did, however, instinctively add power and flatten out the approach. We completed a normal, albeit slightly long, landing -- all with the GPWS sounding. After landing, we went back into map mode suspecting a map shift. The map showed us approximately 4 mi north of the runway. At this point it all became clear. The first approach was high because I was using distance to the runway information which was erroneous. At first I thought I had screwed up the approach. I have never caused a go around at my air carrier due to poor flying technique and was embarrassed to have been so high. I believe this is why I was trying to make the first approach work. In retrospect, I would not have done this and am glad the captain called go around when he did. We obviously started down much closer to the runway than indicated. I usually do non precisions in arc or rose but due to the hour (AB00) I wanted to just follow the little white line with constraints displayed. On the A300 and B767, I have found pop at night to be the most challenging of all these operations given the unreliability of much of the ground based equipment. I believe the latest message regarding using the FMC for help in completing the circling approach should be rescinded. I have flown to uio, lpb, tgu, clo, sjo, on B767 aircraft and A300's and I have found pop at night to be the most challenging of all these operations given the unreliability of the ground based equipment. I believe the latest regarding building a point in the FMS to aid in completion of the circling approach should be rescinded until the pta DME is again operational. As I indicated in a letter after my trip before this one, I believe the air carrier should carefully consider whether it should continue night circling approachs without some vertical guidance to runway 8 and moreover consider whether night operations into pop are prudent with the DME inoperative. Had we had DME last week's trip and this latest one, it would have been much less exciting. I think the PAPI also needs to be calibrated to ensure it is accurate. If you don't have anyone I would be happy to go to pop and explain it to the folks down there on behalf of the pilots. Callback conversation with reporter acn 443798 revealed the following information: the captain has now flown to mdpp for 2 months. The DME at pta VORTAC is still OTS. The captain feels the entire problem is caused by the inoperative DME. This comes at the end of a very long duty day 'in excess of 12 hours' and on the back side of the clock. He mentioned crew fatigue definitely was a factor. The FMC database in the aircraft only has the VOR DME runway 26 approach. The VOR runway 26 approach must be hand built. The captain definitely feels that nighttime operations at the airport should be suspended until the DME can be returned to service.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A300 CREW HAD MAP SHIFT ON FLYING THE APCH AT MDPP. THE DME PORTION OF THE PTA VORTAC HAS BEEN OTS FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD.

Narrative: MAP SHIFT -- SAFETY. ARRIVED AT POP AT AB00 LCL TIME. HAD BUILT AN APCH VOR RWY 26. ON OUTBOUND LEG, I NOTICED THE MAP AND THE RAW DATA DID NOT MATCH. WENT WITH RAW DATA. TURNED INBOUND AT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS 8 MI BASED ON THE FMC PROGRESS PAGE. AS A SIDE NOTE, THE DME IS OUT, AND HAS BEEN OUT FOR SOME TIME. ON FINAL, DSNDING, I FELT HIGH AND SAW WHITE OVER WHITE ON PAPI. AT THAT POINT I REALIZED WE WERE MUCH CLOSER THAN THE BOX INDICATED. MISSED APCH FOLLOWED WITH A TURN DOWNWIND AND A REALIZATION THAT A 4 MI MAP SHIFT HAD TAKEN PLACE. THE CONDITIONS WERE NO CLOUDS, BUT THE EVER-PRESENT HAZE WAS CAUSING PERCEPTION PROBS WITH RED OVER WHITE SHOWING AT 200 FT. A 'TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP' WARNING SOUNDED. WITH THE CONCRETE IN SIGHT AND BEING 100% SURE OF MY LOCATION, I ELECTED TO LAND. ON ROLLOUT, I NOTICED THE FIELD PICTURE 4 MI TO MY L AND MY ACFT SYMBOL LNDG IN THE WATER. ON THE WAY DOWN FROM NEW YORK, THE IRS COULD HAVE UPDATED AT GTK, PLS OR CDO. I DO NOT KNOW WHY WE HAD A MAP SHIFT. IN MY 4 1/2 YRS ON THE AIRBUS I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS. ALSO, WITH NO DME AT POP, NO PAPI ON RWY 8, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER MAP SHIFT, I BELIEVE THIS IS A DANGEROUS OP. I HAVE BEEN TO POP MANY TIMES IN MY 13 YRS WITH THE ACR. I FEAR A NEW CAPT WITH A NEW HIRE FO AT AB30-AC00 LCL TIME COULD FIND THEMSELVES WITH MORE THAN THEY CAN HANDLE. THIS PLACE IS AN ACCIDENT IN SEARCH OF A CREW. I RECOMMEND WE SUSPEND NIGHT OPS INTO POP UNTIL THE DME IS FIXED OR THE PAPI'S ARE FIXED AND CALIBRATED FOR BOTH RWYS. PLEASE CALL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 443804: I ACCOMPLISHED PREFLT INCLUDING FULL ALIGNMENT OF IRU'S TO GATE CO-ORD. FLT PATH FOR MOST OF TRIP APPEARED NORMAL. OUR ACFT ALIGNED ALMOST PERFECTLY WITH OTHER FMS ACFT ON THE AIRWAY. ON ARR, I BRIEFED VOR RWY 26 APCH. I BUILT THIS APCH IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER BECAUSE THE DATABASE APCH IS THE VOR/DME UTILIZING ARC TRANSITION. FIRST I BUILT THE COURSE REVERSAL. THEN I BUILT PTA 063 DEG RADIAL 8 DME THEN PTA 083 DEG RADIAL 8.0 DME FOLLOWED BY PTA AND THEN INSERTED THE MAP. WX IN THE AREA WAS FAIR VFR. NO RESTR TO VISIBILITY. CONFIGURED ACFT TO FLAPS 20 DEGS, 180 KTS. COMPLETED A COURSE REVERSAL. MY PLAN WAS TO GO OUTBOUND DSNDING TO 2300 FT. ONCE PASSING 8 MI INBOUND I WAS GOING TO SET VERT SPD 700 DOWN, INTERCEPT PAPI AND LAND. I WAS PLANNING USING MAP MODE AND ASKED CAPT (PNF) TO STAY IN RAW DATA. AFTER COMPLETING A COURSE REVERSAL IT BECAME OBVIOUS SOMETHING WAS INCORRECT WITH MAP DISPLAY. I WAS SHOWING MYSELF SLIGHTLY N OF COURSE WHILE RMI AND CAS RAW DATA SHOWED S. IMMEDIATELY REVERTED TO RAW DATA. WE ASSUMED I (DESPITE TRIPLECHKING AMONGST OURSELVES) HAD ENTERED THE WAYPOINTS INCORRECTLY. WHILE USING RAW WE REFERRED TO THE FMS BRG/DISTANCE ON THE PROGRESS PAGE AS THE DME WAS INOP. WHEN TURNED AROUND AND ESTABLISHED, I STARTED DOWN AT 700 FPM. WE BROKE OUT AND APPEARED VERY HIGH. I THOUGHT WE COULD WORK IT OUT, BUT AFTER CONTINUING A LITTLE LONGER (1000 FT AFL) CAPT TOLD ME TO GO AROUND, WHICH WAS A GOOD CALL ON HIS PART. WE WERE THEN CLRED FOR A VISUAL AND I WENT TO 1500 FT N OF THE FIELD AND ENTERED A R DOWNWIND FOR RWY 26, THEN INTERCEPTED PAPI AND FLEW 1 RED OVER 3 WHITE. AT APPROX 200 FT WITH LNDG LIGHTS ILLUMINATING RWY AND OCEAN ONLY, THE GPWS WENT NUTS. IT SAID 'TOO LOW TERRAIN, TERRAIN,' ETC AND SCARED THE BEEZGEEBERS OUT OF US. SINCE WE COULD SEE NO OBSTACLES AND THE RWY WAS IN PLAIN SIGHT UNDER VFR, WE LANDED. I DID, HOWEVER, INSTINCTIVELY ADD PWR AND FLATTEN OUT THE APCH. WE COMPLETED A NORMAL, ALBEIT SLIGHTLY LONG, LNDG -- ALL WITH THE GPWS SOUNDING. AFTER LNDG, WE WENT BACK INTO MAP MODE SUSPECTING A MAP SHIFT. THE MAP SHOWED US APPROX 4 MI N OF THE RWY. AT THIS POINT IT ALL BECAME CLR. THE FIRST APCH WAS HIGH BECAUSE I WAS USING DISTANCE TO THE RWY INFO WHICH WAS ERRONEOUS. AT FIRST I THOUGHT I HAD SCREWED UP THE APCH. I HAVE NEVER CAUSED A GAR AT MY ACR DUE TO POOR FLYING TECHNIQUE AND WAS EMBARRASSED TO HAVE BEEN SO HIGH. I BELIEVE THIS IS WHY I WAS TRYING TO MAKE THE FIRST APCH WORK. IN RETROSPECT, I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS AND AM GLAD THE CAPT CALLED GAR WHEN HE DID. WE OBVIOUSLY STARTED DOWN MUCH CLOSER TO THE RWY THAN INDICATED. I USUALLY DO NON PRECISIONS IN ARC OR ROSE BUT DUE TO THE HR (AB00) I WANTED TO JUST FOLLOW THE LITTLE WHITE LINE WITH CONSTRAINTS DISPLAYED. ON THE A300 AND B767, I HAVE FOUND POP AT NIGHT TO BE THE MOST CHALLENGING OF ALL THESE OPS GIVEN THE UNRELIABILITY OF MUCH OF THE GND BASED EQUIP. I BELIEVE THE LATEST MESSAGE REGARDING USING THE FMC FOR HELP IN COMPLETING THE CIRCLING APCH SHOULD BE RESCINDED. I HAVE FLOWN TO UIO, LPB, TGU, CLO, SJO, ON B767 ACFT AND A300'S AND I HAVE FOUND POP AT NIGHT TO BE THE MOST CHALLENGING OF ALL THESE OPS GIVEN THE UNRELIABILITY OF THE GND BASED EQUIP. I BELIEVE THE LATEST REGARDING BUILDING A POINT IN THE FMS TO AID IN COMPLETION OF THE CIRCLING APCH SHOULD BE RESCINDED UNTIL THE PTA DME IS AGAIN OPERATIONAL. AS I INDICATED IN A LETTER AFTER MY TRIP BEFORE THIS ONE, I BELIEVE THE ACR SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER IT SHOULD CONTINUE NIGHT CIRCLING APCHS WITHOUT SOME VERT GUIDANCE TO RWY 8 AND MOREOVER CONSIDER WHETHER NIGHT OPS INTO POP ARE PRUDENT WITH THE DME INOP. HAD WE HAD DME LAST WK'S TRIP AND THIS LATEST ONE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH LESS EXCITING. I THINK THE PAPI ALSO NEEDS TO BE CALIBRATED TO ENSURE IT IS ACCURATE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYONE I WOULD BE HAPPY TO GO TO POP AND EXPLAIN IT TO THE FOLKS DOWN THERE ON BEHALF OF THE PLTS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR ACN 443798 REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE CAPT HAS NOW FLOWN TO MDPP FOR 2 MONTHS. THE DME AT PTA VORTAC IS STILL OTS. THE CAPT FEELS THE ENTIRE PROB IS CAUSED BY THE INOP DME. THIS COMES AT THE END OF A VERY LONG DUTY DAY 'IN EXCESS OF 12 HRS' AND ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE CLOCK. HE MENTIONED CREW FATIGUE DEFINITELY WAS A FACTOR. THE FMC DATABASE IN THE ACFT ONLY HAS THE VOR DME RWY 26 APCH. THE VOR RWY 26 APCH MUST BE HAND BUILT. THE CAPT DEFINITELY FEELS THAT NIGHTTIME OPS AT THE ARPT SHOULD BE SUSPENDED UNTIL THE DME CAN BE RETURNED TO SVC.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.