What do you do when the controller who is vectoring you to the final approach fails to put you in the proper position?In the summer of 2004, a pilot flying a Piper Cherokee Six from Springfield, Ky., to Hot Springs/Memorial Field (KHOT) in Hot Springs, Ark., was put into such a situation. Unfortunately, the pilot's attempt to salvage the approach instead of going missed resulted in tragedy.The flight was conducted under IFR even though the weather at the destination was VMC. The cloud cover was thin, but there were several layers that the aircraft had to descend through to reach the airport at Hot Springs.The aircraft had departed Springfield at approximately 7 a.m. on the day of the accident. The flight proceeded normally and three hours later, while cruising at 5000 feet, the pilot checked in with Memphis Center. The controller acknowledged the transmission and instructed the pilot to fly a 200-degree heading as he began to vector him for the ILS 5 approach at KHOT. After another heading change and an ATC-requested speed reduction of 15 kts, the controller instructed the pilot to descend and maintain 4000 feet. The controller also told the pilot to fly a heading of 010 degrees to intercept the localizer, adding that, "I'm going to bring you in a little bit high, if that's OK?" The pilot said that it was fine with him.In the next transmission, the controller undoubtedly intended to clear the pilot for his approach to Hot Springs. "N4123R, your position is eight miles southeast of HOSSY (the locater outer marker), fly heading 020, intercept the localizer, maintain 3000 until established." The pilot acknowledged the transmission and added that he would let the controller know when he was established. He did not ask if he was cleared for the approach, nor did the controller realize that he hadn't properly cleared the pilot to do so.Shortly thereafter, another controller relieved the controller handling 23R. A relief briefing was conducted and there was a short discussion regarding the aircraft's approach. The handling controller told the relief controller, "He's probably going to miss. I turned him on too late, probably going to miss. Yeah, he's too high. He missed it now. He missed it. He's too high."Just then, the pilot called to say that he was established. The relief controller responded with, "Change to advisory approved. Report your arrival time this frequency." The pilot responded by saying, "23R, cleared for the ILS runway five. I'll report to you when I am down." No further transmissions were received from the aircraft.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/probable-cause-25-controlling-the-approach