A4 Pacific wrote:The cause of this near multiple fatal appears crystal clear. Nothing is likely to save anyone who’s a total d1@khe@d!
Runways 17L and 17R are VERY closely spaced parallel runways! Just another (frequent!) hazard of operating in the Wild West to add to all the others!!
Really?
There is more than one reason why this could have occurred.
The Cirrus departed runway 17L (according to ADSB Exchange), flew half an hour north and then returned.
Let's not forget that someone mentioned it may have been a training flight and may have had an instructor on board. So who is the "total d1@khe@d" ?
Possible scenarios (for those with a more open mind):
1. As everybody seems to believe, he overshot his intended final for 17R (for one of many reasons).
2. He knew he was cleared for 17R, but misidentified it because 17R is much narrower and shorter and not so easy to distinguish from a taxi-way, so was lining up with 17L believing it to be 17R.
3. He was cleared for 17R but misheard it and thought he was cleared for 17L (the one he departed from).
4. He was cleared for 17R, but due to mental overload, it hadn't registered that it was different to his departure runway and continued to line up with 17L.