# Incident 19970419014599I: Boeing 737300, West Palm Beach, FL, April 19, 1997

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 19, 1997, 21:47 local time
- Place: West Palm Beach, FL
- Airport: Palm Beach International
- Phase of flight: Final Approach
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: USAA
- Location: 26.7153° N, 80.0534° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of West Palm Beach, FL, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=26.7153&lon=-80.0534&mi=10
- Aircraft: N350US (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 737300
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 7,943 in this make and model
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970419014599I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: WHILE ON A VISUAL APPROACH TO RUNWAY 27R, PBI, THE CAPTAIN AND F/O HEARD "USAIR, GO AROUND." THE CREW INITIATED A GO AROUND AT 400 AGL. THE CREW ASSUMED IT WAS AN INSTRUCTION FROM PBI TOWER. IN FACT IT WAS FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE IN THE AREA. THE TOWER PERSONNEL DID NOT HEAR THE TRANSMISSION, AND IT WAS NOT ON THE TOWER TAPE. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO TECHNICIANS AT THE PDI ATCT, IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FOR THE AIRCRAFT TO RECEIVE THE INSTRUCTION, AND THE TOWER NOT TO RECEIVE IT. DEPENDING ON DIRECTION AND LOCATION OF THE FALSE TRANSMITTER. THE CREW REACTED PROPERLY, SINCE THEY WERE THE ONLY USAIR FLIGHT IN THE AREA. AT 400 AGL THERE WOULD BE NOT ENOUGH TIME TO QUERY THE TOWER. THEY DID WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED TO DO, AND MADE A VISUAL GO-AROUND. LAW ENFORCEMENT CAME UP EMPTY HANDED. UNFORTUNATELY, THE VOICE TAPE WAS NOT TAKEN OUT BY USAIR TO PRESERVE THE RECORDING. THIS WOULD BE AN ADVISABLE ACTION TO TAKE IN FUTURE OCCURRENCES OF THIS TYPE.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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