Why did Dr. Das have trouble establishing on the localizer for 28R? He followed his vector to the localizer but started to veer right of the signal when he neared the field.
The localizer signal would have been
Some panels are equiped with a "reverse" switch between the radio navigator and the VOR or HSI instrument. The reverse switch transforms the signal from the VHF navigation receiver so that indicator needles appear as they would in a forward approach and the pilot wouldn't have to translate (or reverse interpret) the needle. So, if equiped with a reverse switch and the switch was inadvertently in the reverse position, veering right on the localizer would look like the correct action for the pilot to make.
He also may have been thinking more about circling around to runway 23 and that's why he veered right early. Though he was reminded plenty of times of what he approach was.
The controller reported Dr. Das was veering right of the track. The pilot acknowledge it but may have been too focused on the needle to realize he needed to correct left. If his reverse switch was on, he would have though he was correcting and has no ground references to know the difference between banking left or right. And these types of manuevers are performed in small increments.
The high winds out of the south would have continued to push him right of track. They also would have contributed to a fair amount of turbulence at his altitude over the mountainous San Diego East County area.
Part of the accident chain.
Part of it could be Dr. Das's confusion about the approach clearance. This is evident from the radio transmissions. Why was he having such a hard time grasping the clearance? Was he distracted by something else? If he was having equipment problems, modern instrument training dictates that you notify the controller and abort the approach.
San Diego has a regional emergency IMC process. Landing at Mira Mar.
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