Narrative:

This event was precluded by a student pilot on a cross country to a control tower airport. He had been to this airport several times previous to this, but this was his first solo. He was cleared for runway 20 and proceeded to make a map of his actions in his lap. Instead of using his directional gyro he got sidetracked by his diagram and proceeded to land on the opposite runway. He discovered the mistake when the tower advised him once he was on the ground. Contributing factors to this mishap were a low time student in a control area, and the failure of the tower to correct his actions. Also, his failure to recognize the directional gyro while calling cleared to the correct runway. No corrective actions were taken because he was on the runway when he realized the mistake. I can tell you this student makes good judgements but the control zone caused a misunderstanding on the correct way to go. He will probably never do that again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA28 STUDENT PLT PERFORMS A WRONG RWY APCH AND LNDG WITHOUT CLRNC AT MKL, TN.

Narrative: THIS EVENT WAS PRECLUDED BY A STUDENT PLT ON A XCOUNTRY TO A CTL TWR ARPT. HE HAD BEEN TO THIS ARPT SEVERAL TIMES PREVIOUS TO THIS, BUT THIS WAS HIS FIRST SOLO. HE WAS CLRED FOR RWY 20 AND PROCEEDED TO MAKE A MAP OF HIS ACTIONS IN HIS LAP. INSTEAD OF USING HIS DIRECTIONAL GYRO HE GOT SIDETRACKED BY HIS DIAGRAM AND PROCEEDED TO LAND ON THE OPPOSITE RWY. HE DISCOVERED THE MISTAKE WHEN THE TWR ADVISED HIM ONCE HE WAS ON THE GND. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS MISHAP WERE A LOW TIME STUDENT IN A CTL AREA, AND THE FAILURE OF THE TWR TO CORRECT HIS ACTIONS. ALSO, HIS FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE DIRECTIONAL GYRO WHILE CALLING CLRED TO THE CORRECT RWY. NO CORRECTIVE ACTIONS WERE TAKEN BECAUSE HE WAS ON THE RWY WHEN HE REALIZED THE MISTAKE. I CAN TELL YOU THIS STUDENT MAKES GOOD JUDGEMENTS BUT THE CTL ZONE CAUSED A MISUNDERSTANDING ON THE CORRECT WAY TO GO. HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER DO THAT AGAIN.

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.