DCA16IA200

The flight crew's misidentification of the desired landing runway due to excess altitude requiring an extended downwind, and failure to use all available navigation information.

The flight was routine until nearing the Rapid City terminal area.  The crew had initially briefed for landing on runway 32, but the wind had shifted and favored runway 14.  The crew reported that they had prepared for the runway 14 approach as well, so the change was not a significant factor.  Delta chart material did include an advisory regarding the close proximity and alignment of the two airports. Landing on runway 14 required more flying distance than runway 32, however, at 2030, the crew discussed the need to descend more rapidly.  The flight was not altitude restricted by ATC.  At 2035, ATC instructed the flight to fly heading of 300 degrees for the downwind leg of the visual approach.  At that time the airplane was 9 miles abeam RAP at 12,000 feet.  The ATC controllers noted that the airplane was high and fast for the visual approach.  Field elevation of RAP was 3,200 feet and with a nominal remaining flying distance of about 15 to 18 miles the airplane was positioned well above the typical 300 feet per mile descent.  At 2036:30 the captain called the airport in sight and called for gear down and flaps one, configuring the airplane for a more expeditious descent.  At this point RAP was south-southwest of the airplane, at the 8 o'clock position, while RCA was at the 10 o'clock position, therefore, it is likely the captain was actually looking at RCA. Shortly afterward, ATC issued a vector for base leg, but the crew requested to extend the downwind due to high altitude, which ATC approved.  At 2039, the crew accepted a turn to base leg as the airplane was descending through 5,800 feet, about 5.5 miles north of RCA, and about 12 miles north of RAP.  This was consistent with altitudes on the RNAV14 approach to RAP, but a somewhat steeper than normal angle to RCA.  ATC cleared the flight for "visual approach runway one-four. Use caution for Ellsworth Air Force Base located six miles northwest of Rapid City Regional."  FAA order 7110.65 directs controllers to describe the location of a potentially confusing airport in terms of direction/distance from the aircraft.  During interviews, the crew stated they misheard the controller's warning for the typical position advisory given on an instrument approach, and it supported their idea that the correct landing runway was 6 miles away.  The FO did query the Captain if he had the right airport in sight, who expressed some uncertainty.  Both crewmembers had little to no experience flying into either RAP or RCA, however, they did not verify their position to the desired landing runway using either the automation, or by querying ATC; and switched off the autopilot and Flight Directors removing possible cues as to their position related to RAP  At the time ATC cleared the flight for the visual approach  the airplane was positioned on the final approach course of the RNAV14 approach, and at a reasonable altitude for that approach, therefore, there was no immediate indication to ATC that the crew had identified the wrong airport. Shortly after, the captain increased the descent rate as high as 1,200 feet per minute, resulting in an unstable approach as he was focused on the wrong landing runway.  The crew realized the mistake just prior to touchdown, but considered it was safer to complete the landing at that point.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 7, 2016, at 2042 mountain daylight time (MDT), Delta Air Lines flight 2845, an Airbus A320, N333NW, landed on runway 13 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota (RCA). The airplane was not damaged and there were no injuries. The flight was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MSP) operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121, with a planned destination of Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP). The flight crew reported the takeoff, climb, cruise, and initial decent to be routine until nearing the Rapid City area. The captain was the pilot flying and the first officer (FO) was the pilot monitoring for the flight leg. Prior to arrival into the RAP area, the captain anticipated and briefed the ILS32 approach; however, due to his personal procedure, he also briefed the RNAV/GPS14 approach. Prior to contacting Ellsworth Approach Control, the FO obtained the latest weather for RAP, which included wind from 140 degrees at 4 knots. The approach briefing included the airport information page, the anticipated taxi route to the gate after landing, and the close proximity of RCA to RAP. At 2029:29, the airplane was descending through flight level 235 (about 23,500 feet above sea level) descending to 17,000 feet, and the flight crew made initial contact with Ellsworth Radar Approach Control (EA) The approach controller acknowledged and cleared the flight to descend to 5,300 feet and to expect a visual approach to runway 14. The crew acknowledged, and discussed the need to descend more rapidly. The captain was demonstrating to the FO a technique on setting up the Flight Management System (FMS) to configure for approach. During this exchange the airplane was approximately 45 nautical miles east of RAP. At 2034:58, the airplane was abeam RAP and the EA controller instructed the crew to fly heading of 300 degrees for a downwind leg to the visual approach. The EA controller and the RAP tower controller discussed on landline communications that the airplane was high and fast for the visual approach. During the exchange the airplane descended through about 12,000 feet. Field elevation of RAP was 3,200 feet and with a nominal remaining flying distance of about 15 to 18 miles the airplane was positioned well above the typical 300 feet per mile descent. At 2035:18 the captain noted that the airplane's speed was too high, and then noted that his technique on the FMS was not going to work the way he intended, and switched back to open descent. At 2036:30 the captain said "there's the airport," and called for gear down and flaps one. At this point the airplane was east of RCA, and RAP was south-southwest of the airplane. At 2037:15 the EA controller instructed the flight to turn to a heading of 230 degrees, for the base leg of the visual approach. At this time, the airplane was descending through 9,200 feet and was positioned 9 miles north of RAP. Total flying distance via base leg and final would have been about 12 miles. Ellsworth AFB was directly abeam the left side of the airplane by about 4 miles. The FO advised the controller that they were "a little high" and requested an extended downwind leg. The controller approved and asked the pilot to advise when they were ready to turn in. The airplane had turned about 15 degrees left during the previous discussion, and continued to slow. The airplane had travelled about 5 miles in a northwesterly direction, and was descending through 6,600 feet, about 11 miles north of RAP when the controller asked the pilot if he could begin a turn toward the runway. At 2039:12 the pilot advised he could accept a turn and that he had the field in sight. At that time the airplane was 12 miles north of KRAP, and less than 2 miles abeam the extended centerline. KRCA was directly between the airplane's position and KRAP about 6 miles south. The EA controller advised the pilot "cleared visual approach runway one-four. Use caution for Ellsworth Air Force Base located six miles northwest of Rapid City Regional." The FO acknowledged the approach clearance, and said to the captain "you got the right one in sight?" The captain replied "I hope I do." After turning onto the base leg the captain selected a direct radial to the ZUDIM intersection, the final approach fix for the RAP RNAV GPS 14 approach, and armed the approach. ZUDIM is located 1.2 miles southwest of RCA. The captain reported that the airplane captured the approach about 5 miles from ZUDIM. The FO reported that he observed his navigation display (ND) and the flight was straight on the "correct" navigation line to the runway. The airplane turned left, passing through and slightly west of the extended centerline for RAP runway 14. From 2039:45 to 2040:45 the airplanes descent rate slowed and was close to level at 4,900 feet. This altitude and position is consistent with the altitudes published on the RNAV 14 approach chart in that area; the specified altitude for crossing ZUDIM waypoint, directly abeam RCA, is 4,900 feet. During this period, at 2040:10, the pilot asked if he should contact tower, and the EA controller instructed him to switch to the tower frequency. At that time, the airplane was about 5 miles north of RCA, about 11 miles north of RAP and positioned close to the extended centerlines of either runway. The captain switched off the autopilot, and directed the first officer to clear the flight director display. Just after switching to the tower frequency, the airplane began a rapid descent from 4,600 feet, about 3 miles from the RCA runway threshold, to landing at KRCA, with a field elevation of 3,276 msl. The captain reported that about 500 feet agl he did not observe the PAPI lights; however, he remained "focused on the visual approach." At 2041:25 the captain stated "confirmed stable." The airplane was 1.5 nm from the threshold of KRCA, 8 nm from KRAP. The airplane was descending approximately 1,200 feet per minute, and the captain said "this is the most [expletive] approach I've made in a while." As they approached the runway, the captain retarded the thrust levers to idle, at which point they realized that they were landing at RCA. According to both crewmembers. the landing runway 13 was "uneventful" and they cleared the runway onto taxiway "D" and notified the RAP air traffic control tower. At 2042:24, the RAP tower controller notified the EA controller that DAL2845 had landed at RCA instead of RAP. The EA controller contacted RCA tower and began the process of handling the "wrong airport" landing with the tower and airfield operations personnel. On the ATC interphone, the RAP tower controller stated that he was initially watching the airplane on the tower radar display, but at the time of landing was entering traffic count information. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The captain was 60 years old. He held an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with type ratings on the Airbus A-320 and A-330, and the Boeing 747 with Second-in-Command privileges. He also held a commercial pilot certificate for instrument helicopter, a flight engineer certificate, and an FAA first-class medical certificate dated April 8, 2016. He had approximately 25,800 hours total time, and 2,980 hours in the A320. He was originally hired with Republic Airways on June 9, 1986, which merged with Northwest Airlines in October of 1986, and subsequently merged with Delta in January of 2010. At the time of the incident, he was based in Salt Lake City, Utah. A review of FAA records found no prior accident, incident, or enforcement actions. According to Delta Air Lines' records the captain's previous experience flying into RAP was December 4, 2014, and a subsequent departure from RAP on December 6, 2014. No other records of previous experience with the airport were located. The Firs