Narrative:

While on approach to mry, we were about 7 mi out. ATC asked if we had a visual. I told my first officer I did not see the airport. My first officer then pointed to an airport, stated he had mry and directed me to it. I had the airport he showed me and we were cleared for a visual to mry. However, around 4 mi out, we were lined up for oar -- a few mi north of mry. When we realized our error, ATC noticed and directed us to mry. We always back ourselves up -- in this case we had the localizer set up and when I didn't correspond to the inbound course, I knew there was a problem. However, with lower visibility coming in from the north, oar is the first airport you see and they look similar. The runway lengths are not similar, but the direction of the runways are similar. In hindsight, we should have lined up for the approach to reduce the chance of lining up to the wrong airport to zero.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CL60 CREW MADE A VISUAL APCH TO THE WRONG ARPT, WHEN THE NCT APCH CTLR ASKED IF THEY HAD THE MRY ARPT IN SIGHT.

Narrative: WHILE ON APCH TO MRY, WE WERE ABOUT 7 MI OUT. ATC ASKED IF WE HAD A VISUAL. I TOLD MY FO I DID NOT SEE THE ARPT. MY FO THEN POINTED TO AN ARPT, STATED HE HAD MRY AND DIRECTED ME TO IT. I HAD THE ARPT HE SHOWED ME AND WE WERE CLRED FOR A VISUAL TO MRY. HOWEVER, AROUND 4 MI OUT, WE WERE LINED UP FOR OAR -- A FEW MI N OF MRY. WHEN WE REALIZED OUR ERROR, ATC NOTICED AND DIRECTED US TO MRY. WE ALWAYS BACK OURSELVES UP -- IN THIS CASE WE HAD THE LOC SET UP AND WHEN I DIDN'T CORRESPOND TO THE INBOUND COURSE, I KNEW THERE WAS A PROB. HOWEVER, WITH LOWER VISIBILITY COMING IN FROM THE N, OAR IS THE FIRST ARPT YOU SEE AND THEY LOOK SIMILAR. THE RWY LENGTHS ARE NOT SIMILAR, BUT THE DIRECTION OF THE RWYS ARE SIMILAR. IN HINDSIGHT, WE SHOULD HAVE LINED UP FOR THE APCH TO REDUCE THE CHANCE OF LINING UP TO THE WRONG ARPT TO ZERO.

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.