Narrative:

On the bonham arrival for runway 17C, we were too high when approach turned us toward the runway and asked us if we could make it from that position. I told them we were too high and asked for an s-turn to lose altitude. Approach approved the s-turn to the east, cleared us for the visual, and switched us to tower frequency. When I contacted tower, to further confuse matters, we were offered runway 17R, which I declined because we were already busy enough. The first officer made a left turn to about 70 degrees from the runway heading. During the turn, we both lost sight of the runway, but as we turned back, we both saw bright runway lights which we assumed were the lights for runway 17C. We had been told that we were #2 behind a regional jet, and we both saw another aircraft ahead of us on final. We continued the descent watching the GS indicators until we were at a safe altitude for the visual approach. Because we both had our navigation displays in the map mode, we did not notice a slight deviation from the localizer. As we rolled out about 3 mi final, the tower told us that we were lined up for runway 17L and cleared us to land on that runway, advising us that there was no traffic conflict. Supplemental information from acn 636536: I got disoriented by controller instructions to follow an rj. I fixated on the incorrect traffic.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: WRONG RWY APCH TO RWY 17L DURING A NIGHT OP BY AN MD80 FLT CREW WHEN S-TURNING AND ATTEMPTING TO FOLLOW TFC TO ASSIGNED RWY 17C AT DFW.

Narrative: ON THE BONHAM ARR FOR RWY 17C, WE WERE TOO HIGH WHEN APCH TURNED US TOWARD THE RWY AND ASKED US IF WE COULD MAKE IT FROM THAT POS. I TOLD THEM WE WERE TOO HIGH AND ASKED FOR AN S-TURN TO LOSE ALT. APCH APPROVED THE S-TURN TO THE E, CLRED US FOR THE VISUAL, AND SWITCHED US TO TWR FREQ. WHEN I CONTACTED TWR, TO FURTHER CONFUSE MATTERS, WE WERE OFFERED RWY 17R, WHICH I DECLINED BECAUSE WE WERE ALREADY BUSY ENOUGH. THE FO MADE A L TURN TO ABOUT 70 DEGS FROM THE RWY HDG. DURING THE TURN, WE BOTH LOST SIGHT OF THE RWY, BUT AS WE TURNED BACK, WE BOTH SAW BRIGHT RWY LIGHTS WHICH WE ASSUMED WERE THE LIGHTS FOR RWY 17C. WE HAD BEEN TOLD THAT WE WERE #2 BEHIND A REGIONAL JET, AND WE BOTH SAW ANOTHER ACFT AHEAD OF US ON FINAL. WE CONTINUED THE DSCNT WATCHING THE GS INDICATORS UNTIL WE WERE AT A SAFE ALT FOR THE VISUAL APCH. BECAUSE WE BOTH HAD OUR NAV DISPLAYS IN THE MAP MODE, WE DID NOT NOTICE A SLIGHT DEV FROM THE LOC. AS WE ROLLED OUT ABOUT 3 MI FINAL, THE TWR TOLD US THAT WE WERE LINED UP FOR RWY 17L AND CLRED US TO LAND ON THAT RWY, ADVISING US THAT THERE WAS NO TFC CONFLICT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 636536: I GOT DISORIENTED BY CTLR INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW AN RJ. I FIXATED ON THE INCORRECT TFC.

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.