Narrative:

On approach to abq runway 26; we had the runway about 20 miles out visually at approximately 12;000 feet. We were cleared the visual approach. During the brief; we had discussed the high terrain east of the airport; most of which was in the northeast corridor. I asked the first officer to set 6;800 feet and give me direct to the centerline. As I started to descend though; I started to lose sight of the runway and asked the first officer to request the minimum vectoring altitude from approach and started climbing. There were no GPWS warnings; but losing sight of the runway was very uncomfortable. Approach came back with a minimum safe altitude of 10;000 feet. We requested vectors for assistance in getting down. Approach clearance was canceled and we were vectored south of the airport at 9;200 feet. Once the controller pointed us back to the airport; we were perpendicular with the runway and once again cleared the visual. We told the controller we were going to make a turn slightly toward the east as we were still very high and needed to get down. The controller instructed us to keep it tight due to the terrain. Visual cues were marginal at night and because we were aware of the terrain to the east; I elected to not go all the way out to the centerline; but instead to overshoot final and come back and intercept final. The controller was instructed of our intentions. When configuring; I asked for flaps 2 at approximately 190 knots. The first officer accidentally went to flaps 3 and immediately put the handle back to 2. The flaps did not have time to have tracked past 2; but we got a momentary overspeed indication due to the handle going to the 3 position. Maintenance was notified later and the situation explained. During the approach; the ground speed minimum appeared high and was between 150-155 and was probably due to a 30 knot wind at 1;500 AGL. However; the winds on the ground were 230/10 and vls was 127. I elected to split the difference and instructed the first officer to set 140 knots manually and flew that speed (runway 26 is over 13;000 feet long). Landing was on speed and uneventful. Strong winds from the west; a lack of visual cues at night; the high terrain to the east; and the absence of a published approach to runway 26 (in addition to the long duty day) made this approach very challenging. In the future; I will not accept a visual approach until past the ridge line east of the airport.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier crew descending on the ABQ MEIRA 2 Arrival for Runway 26 described the difficulty they had judging terrain clearance and determining a safe track to the runway during a night VMC visual approach.

Narrative: On approach to ABQ Runway 26; we had the runway about 20 miles out visually at approximately 12;000 feet. We were cleared the visual approach. During the brief; we had discussed the high terrain east of the airport; most of which was in the northeast corridor. I asked the First Officer to set 6;800 feet and give me direct to the centerline. As I started to descend though; I started to lose sight of the runway and asked the First Officer to request the Minimum Vectoring Altitude from approach and started climbing. There were NO GPWS warnings; but losing sight of the runway was very uncomfortable. Approach came back with a Minimum Safe Altitude of 10;000 feet. We requested vectors for assistance in getting down. Approach clearance was canceled and we were vectored south of the airport at 9;200 feet. Once the Controller pointed us back to the airport; we were perpendicular with the runway and once again cleared the visual. We told the Controller we were going to make a turn slightly toward the east as we were still very high and needed to get down. The Controller instructed us to keep it tight due to the terrain. Visual cues were marginal at night and because we were aware of the terrain to the east; I elected to not go all the way out to the centerline; but instead to overshoot final and come back and intercept final. The Controller was instructed of our intentions. When configuring; I asked for flaps 2 at approximately 190 knots. The First Officer accidentally went to flaps 3 and immediately put the handle back to 2. The flaps did not have time to have tracked past 2; but we got a momentary overspeed indication due to the handle going to the 3 position. Maintenance was notified later and the situation explained. During the approach; the ground speed minimum appeared high and was between 150-155 and was probably due to a 30 knot wind at 1;500 AGL. However; the winds on the ground were 230/10 and VLS was 127. I elected to split the difference and instructed the First Officer to set 140 knots manually and flew that speed (Runway 26 is over 13;000 feet long). Landing was on speed and uneventful. Strong winds from the west; a lack of visual cues at night; the high terrain to the east; and the absence of a published approach to Runway 26 (in addition to the long duty day) made this approach very challenging. In the future; I will not accept a visual approach until past the ridge line east of the airport.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.