Date:	Friday 9 December 2022
Time:	07:20
Type:	Piper PA-46-500TP Malibu Meridian
Owner/operator:	H Bremer & Filhos Ltda.
Registration:	PT-HBF
MSN:	4697661
Year of manufacture:	2019
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	None
Category:	Serious incident
Location:	Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport, SC (SBFL) -   Brazil
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Executive
Departure airport:	Blumenau Airport, SC (BNU/SSBL)
Destination airport:	Florianópolis-Hercilio Luz International Airport, SC (FLN/SBFL)
Investigating agency:	CENIPA
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Piper Malibu Meridian had taken off from Blumenau Airport, SC (SSBL) to carry personnel to Florianópolis International Airport (SBFL), with one pilot and four passengers on board. While aiming for a landing on runway 14 at SBFL, the pilot accidentally approached and landed on Taxiway D, which is parallel to the main runway throughout its entire length. After landing, the pilot taxied back through twy. D, runway 14/32, and twy. B to the designated parking position. No one was injured, and the aircraft was undamaged.


Analysis:
The pilot in command was certified for and had experience on this type of flight. The aircraft was in good condition and its airworthiness certificate was valid, with all its documentation up to date. The weather at the destination airport was good, with light winds, clear visibility, and only a few clouds at 1300 ft.

According to the PIC, the position of the sun at the time hindered his sight to the outside, reducing his situational awareness and making it difficult for him to properly align with the runway. He also claimed to only have noticed he was approaching a taxiway during the landing flare, by which point he judged a go-around impossible. This was considered feasible, given the time of sunrise at that date and location was 05:11 LT.

Recordings of the radio communications between the pilot in command and air traffic services were analysed, showing that, although the runway in use at the time was runway 32, the PIC requested visual approach to the opposite runway (14), which he was cleared for. This was considered to be in accordance with Air Traffic Service rules in force at the time (ICA 100-37). Further analysis of the recordings also showed that at no point did the tower (TWR-FL) alert the pilot to execute a missed approach.

Further analysis of ICA 100-37 (the set of rules governing Air Traffic Services in Brazil) determined that, while it is sufficiently clear about procedures to be executed by controllers regarding runway incursions or obstacles, the same could not be said about the need for a controller to instruct a go-around or missed approach in case an aircraft were to be approaching a surface other than the one it was cleared to land on, such as a taxiway. This was deemed an oversight in regulation and/or recommendations to controllers.

The pilot being unable to distinguish the runway from a taxiway was characterised as a process of inattention, possibly triggered by sun glare aligned with the direction of landing, reducing his ability to rapidly and precisely respond to stimuli. This situation imparted on him a reduction in spatial awareness, disorientation, and delayed perception, contributing to him committing to a taxiway landing instead of deciding for a go-around.


Contributing factors:
- Attention: contributed
- Perception: contributed
- ATS publications: undetermined


Safety recommendations:
To the Department of Airspace Control (DECEA):
- Consider revising ICA 100-37 in order to include recommendations to ATCOs to adequately instruct aircraft who find themselves approaching areas other than those designated for landing to go around or execute a missed approach procedure.

CENIPA final report IG-143/CENIPA/2022
Aircraft info: https://sistemas.anac.gov.br/aeronaves/cons_rab_resposta.asp?textMarca=PTHBF

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
12-Dec-2024 13:16	lokarutlot	Added