Narrative:

I departed louisville standiford field at approximately XA30 local time on apr/thu/02 en route to lake charles, la, on an IFR flight plan. I encountered strong headwinds and decided to land at greenville, ms, for fuel. The transponder was not working when I left louisville and center and approach control only had a primary target throughout the flight. I had greenville (glh) in the GPS for navigation and then glf in the GPS for the final portion of the flight. ZME handed me off to memphis approach and the controller asked me my position. I also had the VOR tuned into glh and told her that I was on the 131 degree radial at 30 DME. I later found out that the KNS80 was in error and it showed that radial and DME distance all the time, even on other VOR stations. This probably compounded the confusion at this time. The controller asked me if I had the airport in sight which I eventually did at about 5 DME and she handed me over to the tower frequency (greenwood). Tower said I could make a straight-in approach to runway 35 and I informed him that I was on a right base and he acknowledged and said 'you are cleared to land.' after landing, I tried to contact the tower and was unable to as I was at greenville and the tower was greenwood. I was not real familiar with the cessna 421B aircraft and had been checked out in it on the thursday before the incident. I was chief pilot flying a citation ii which had been sold that week. The factors that led to this incident were confusion between the controllers and myself that I was landing at greenville and not greenwood and not being familiar with the area. I chose greenville over monroe, la, due to WX conditions. Greenville was VFR and monroe had 1000 ft overcast conditions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CESSNA 421 PLT LANDED AT THE WRONG ARPT DUE TO MALFUNCTIONING VOR RECEIVER, UNFAMILIARITY WITH THE AREA AND WX CONDITIONS AT THE ORIGINAL DEST.

Narrative: I DEPARTED LOUISVILLE STANDIFORD FIELD AT APPROX XA30 LCL TIME ON APR/THU/02 ENRTE TO LAKE CHARLES, LA, ON AN IFR FLT PLAN. I ENCOUNTERED STRONG HEADWINDS AND DECIDED TO LAND AT GREENVILLE, MS, FOR FUEL. THE XPONDER WAS NOT WORKING WHEN I LEFT LOUISVILLE AND CTR AND APCH CTL ONLY HAD A PRIMARY TARGET THROUGHOUT THE FLT. I HAD GREENVILLE (GLH) IN THE GPS FOR NAV AND THEN GLF IN THE GPS FOR THE FINAL PORTION OF THE FLT. ZME HANDED ME OFF TO MEMPHIS APCH AND THE CTLR ASKED ME MY POS. I ALSO HAD THE VOR TUNED INTO GLH AND TOLD HER THAT I WAS ON THE 131 DEG RADIAL AT 30 DME. I LATER FOUND OUT THAT THE KNS80 WAS IN ERROR AND IT SHOWED THAT RADIAL AND DME DISTANCE ALL THE TIME, EVEN ON OTHER VOR STATIONS. THIS PROBABLY COMPOUNDED THE CONFUSION AT THIS TIME. THE CTLR ASKED ME IF I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT WHICH I EVENTUALLY DID AT ABOUT 5 DME AND SHE HANDED ME OVER TO THE TWR FREQ (GREENWOOD). TWR SAID I COULD MAKE A STRAIGHT-IN APCH TO RWY 35 AND I INFORMED HIM THAT I WAS ON A R BASE AND HE ACKNOWLEDGED AND SAID 'YOU ARE CLRED TO LAND.' AFTER LNDG, I TRIED TO CONTACT THE TWR AND WAS UNABLE TO AS I WAS AT GREENVILLE AND THE TWR WAS GREENWOOD. I WAS NOT REAL FAMILIAR WITH THE CESSNA 421B ACFT AND HAD BEEN CHECKED OUT IN IT ON THE THURSDAY BEFORE THE INCIDENT. I WAS CHIEF PLT FLYING A CITATION II WHICH HAD BEEN SOLD THAT WK. THE FACTORS THAT LED TO THIS INCIDENT WERE CONFUSION BTWN THE CTLRS AND MYSELF THAT I WAS LNDG AT GREENVILLE AND NOT GREENWOOD AND NOT BEING FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA. I CHOSE GREENVILLE OVER MONROE, LA, DUE TO WX CONDITIONS. GREENVILLE WAS VFR AND MONROE HAD 1000 FT OVCST CONDITIONS.

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.