Narrative:

The instructional flight was a night cross country; dual; required on step ii of the commercial instrument multi-engine course where the student pilot is already a private pilot who just got his certificate approximately 2 weeks ago. The student planned a cross country night from vero beach; fl; to daytona; fl; then back. Due to the earlier actual time of arrival at daytona than the estimated time of arrival; the student mentioned that we could be back to vero beach sooner. On the flight back to vero beach after passing over the space coast airport; the student pilot began pointing to reference landmarks that he thought were parts of the vero beach vicinity. I agreed with the student's conclusion that we were back at vero. On final; shortly before touchdown at the runway which we thought was runway 11R; I started noticing the radio flickering off and when I looked outside was surprised to see that the surroundings were not that of vero beach airport. The warehouses I knew were different and the runway environment resembled only one airport that I have flown into during daytime. Realizing we made an error; I reached for the radio to change frequencys to mlb tower 118.2; but the radio was off and then after trying the avionics master switch on the off and on position several times; it turned back on. A call was made to the tower to mention inadvertent landing at the airport. The tower acknowledged our call and asked if we saw the light gun signals and we said no. He then asked us if we had a communication problem. Thinking that he was indicating to our very brief loss of radios on final and touchdown; we said; yes we did have a communication problem. Tower gave us the clearance to take off on the next parallel runway (runway 9R) and do an intersection takeoff. We complied with the clearance and headed back to vero beach without any further incident. The problem arose out of complacency and too much trust placed on the student who was a good; diligent and an ideal student to train due to his very positive attitude; good communication skills; receptiveness and ability to learn readily. I was already fatigued having to wake up at XA30 for my first student who had cross country around XC00 that morning. From this I could point out stress and fatigue as contributing human factors. Human errors were complacency; lack of initiative to second guess my student and failure to verify position with the NAVAID instruments.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN INSTRUCTOR PLT RPTS THAT HE AND HIS STUDENT LANDED AT AN INCORRECT ARPT FOLLOWING A NIGHT XCOUNTRY TRAINING FLT.

Narrative: THE INSTRUCTIONAL FLT WAS A NIGHT XCOUNTRY; DUAL; REQUIRED ON STEP II OF THE COMMERCIAL INST MULTI-ENG COURSE WHERE THE STUDENT PLT IS ALREADY A PVT PLT WHO JUST GOT HIS CERTIFICATE APPROX 2 WKS AGO. THE STUDENT PLANNED A XCOUNTRY NIGHT FROM VERO BEACH; FL; TO DAYTONA; FL; THEN BACK. DUE TO THE EARLIER ACTUAL TIME OF ARR AT DAYTONA THAN THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARR; THE STUDENT MENTIONED THAT WE COULD BE BACK TO VERO BEACH SOONER. ON THE FLT BACK TO VERO BEACH AFTER PASSING OVER THE SPACE COAST ARPT; THE STUDENT PLT BEGAN POINTING TO REF LANDMARKS THAT HE THOUGHT WERE PARTS OF THE VERO BEACH VICINITY. I AGREED WITH THE STUDENT'S CONCLUSION THAT WE WERE BACK AT VERO. ON FINAL; SHORTLY BEFORE TOUCHDOWN AT THE RWY WHICH WE THOUGHT WAS RWY 11R; I STARTED NOTICING THE RADIO FLICKERING OFF AND WHEN I LOOKED OUTSIDE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THAT THE SURROUNDINGS WERE NOT THAT OF VERO BEACH ARPT. THE WAREHOUSES I KNEW WERE DIFFERENT AND THE RWY ENVIRONMENT RESEMBLED ONLY ONE ARPT THAT I HAVE FLOWN INTO DURING DAYTIME. REALIZING WE MADE AN ERROR; I REACHED FOR THE RADIO TO CHANGE FREQS TO MLB TWR 118.2; BUT THE RADIO WAS OFF AND THEN AFTER TRYING THE AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH ON THE OFF AND ON POS SEVERAL TIMES; IT TURNED BACK ON. A CALL WAS MADE TO THE TWR TO MENTION INADVERTENT LNDG AT THE ARPT. THE TWR ACKNOWLEDGED OUR CALL AND ASKED IF WE SAW THE LIGHT GUN SIGNALS AND WE SAID NO. HE THEN ASKED US IF WE HAD A COM PROB. THINKING THAT HE WAS INDICATING TO OUR VERY BRIEF LOSS OF RADIOS ON FINAL AND TOUCHDOWN; WE SAID; YES WE DID HAVE A COM PROB. TWR GAVE US THE CLRNC TO TAKE OFF ON THE NEXT PARALLEL RWY (RWY 9R) AND DO AN INTXN TKOF. WE COMPLIED WITH THE CLRNC AND HEADED BACK TO VERO BEACH WITHOUT ANY FURTHER INCIDENT. THE PROB AROSE OUT OF COMPLACENCY AND TOO MUCH TRUST PLACED ON THE STUDENT WHO WAS A GOOD; DILIGENT AND AN IDEAL STUDENT TO TRAIN DUE TO HIS VERY POSITIVE ATTITUDE; GOOD COM SKILLS; RECEPTIVENESS AND ABILITY TO LEARN READILY. I WAS ALREADY FATIGUED HAVING TO WAKE UP AT XA30 FOR MY FIRST STUDENT WHO HAD XCOUNTRY AROUND XC00 THAT MORNING. FROM THIS I COULD POINT OUT STRESS AND FATIGUE AS CONTRIBUTING HUMAN FACTORS. HUMAN ERRORS WERE COMPLACENCY; LACK OF INITIATIVE TO SECOND GUESS MY STUDENT AND FAILURE TO VERIFY POS WITH THE NAVAID INSTS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.