KSAN taws alert?

[Kingairrick]

We were coming into SAN Friday night, IMC. As we were decending to 5000, heading about 250 to join the LOC 27, we got a "terrain, terrain" alert. The GPWS was displaying just a little green stuff on either side of the nose. We assumed that we were decending too fast toward a ridge or something. Even so, woke me up pretty good.
Anyone else had this happen there?

 

[FracCapt]

How far out were you? I've never gotten a GPWS or TAWS warning when descending into SAN....except that one time the flaps failed and the FLAP O/RIDE switch broke when I pushed it...

 

[Kingairrick]

about 20 east of SWATS. I'm pretty sure that is was the approaching ridge that was beginning to display on the screen, combined with our sink rate. However, we were starting to level off when the alert went off, only around 300' or so from 5000.

 

[EagleRJ]

It might have been Signal Hill, the single hill with all the antennas on it several miles west of the main range of mountains. It sets off GPWS all the time, but you shouldn't have had a problem with TAWS. Maybe it was just a fluke?

 

[FracCapt]

It might have been Signal Hill, the single hill with all the antennas on it several miles west of the main range of mountains. It sets off GPWS all the time, but you shouldn't have had a problem with TAWS. Maybe it was just a fluke?

In my experience, TAWS is far worse than GPWS for false alerts. Numerous times I've had "obstacle, obstacle" alerts when on 1/2 to 2 mile final at various airports while flying the glideslope. Also had a confused GPS one day(no RAIM was the only message we had) in a TAWS equipped airplane and it gave us a terrain warning while on centerline/glide slope in severe clear day weather. The GPS probably thought we were a few miles west where there are mountains. We took it around, figured out what it was probably thinking, then inhibited it and flew a normal approach. At least GPWS is based on what it sees and current trends.....not what it "thinks" is ahead or where it "thinks" you are.

 

[avbug]

I got that message in LAS recently, from the Stratosphere. Startled me, bumbling in fat, dumb, and happy (situation normal...), gazing at the lights in a right turn for 19R around old stupek's folley.

I don't believe I've heard it at KSAN, however. The approach in there does seem a little tighter on terrain and obstacles than most, and I always cringe going in there when thinking about noise below and to the areas adjacent to the final approach course.