Flight Crew Private
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Troubleshooting; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Ground Incursion Runway
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Airport; Chart Or Publication; Aircraft
On Date; I planned a flight to land at 23M Clarke County (a non towered field); then on to ZZZ. I obtained a full flight briefing through Foreflight prior to departure and confirmed that the only airport NOTAM for 23M was that the PAPI for runway 34 was unusable. I departed and had an uneventful flight en route to 23M. About 6 miles from 23M; I announced my position and intention to land on runway 16 on the CTAF. I made position reports again on turning left downwind; left base; and final. Abeam the numbers on downwind leg; I reduced throttle to normal MAP for landing. As I turned from base to final; I went to reduce throttle to idle; but the throttle stuck at about 12 inches MAP. As I approached the runway; I tried very diligently to get the throttle unstuck by turning the throttle tension knob and firmly pulling on the throttle. I was able to get the throttle to pull back to idle just before crossing the runway threshold and proceeded to land on runway 16 at 23M. Once on the ground; a voice came over the radio that said 'You can't land here; the airport is closed; didn't you see the yellow X on the runway?' I had not seen any X's on the runway on approach. At this point I reached the entry to the taxiway and saw that it was blocked off. I responded that I was having a semi-emergency and was troubleshooting a stuck throttle. They asked if there was anything they could do to help. I replied no and that I think I had the problem resolved and would immediately back taxi and take back off. I told them I checked NOTAMs before I departed and that I hadn't seen any NOTAMS about a closure; to which they replied 'Well I don't know how that happened.' He stated that they had no fuel and something about that being why the airport was closed; which did not completely make sense to me at the time. I cycled the throttle several times to ensure it was not sticking and the engine responded properly. There were no obstructions on the runway that would prevent takeoff and there were no workers visible around the runway. As I taxied back to the takeoff end of runway 16; I was thinking about how I did not see any X's on the runway and how there was no NOTAM for the airport being closed when I did my briefing just an hour or so prior. I felt like a real bonehead for missing this. When I got to the end of the runway; I saw that there was in fact NO X ON THE PAVED RUNWAY INDICATING IT WAS CLOSED. There was a yellow X laying on the grass leading up to the runway threshold; but there were no markings on the runway itself. I departed without issue and returned to my home airport. I checked the NOTAMs for the airport again and confirmed that there were no NOTAMs for 23M being closed on this date. Three issues stand out to me in this situation. First; if a runway is to be closed; the yellow X needs to be ON the runway; not in the grass leading up to the runway. All examples of runway closure markings I have ever seen have been ON the runway surface. Second; if an airport or runway is to be temporarily closed; there should be a NOTAM for that closure. Third; while there was an X on the grass leading up to the runway; I did not see it on final approach due to being preoccupied troubleshooting the stuck throttle. In the future; I will do a more thorough job of looking AROUND the runway for yellow X's while on downwind leg and on final approach. I am not sure if an unauthorized individual may have placed the X's in the grass and the airport wasn't really officially closed. The person on the CTAF did not identify themselves so I do not know if they were airport officials or someone else. The lack of a NOTAM and improper placement of the X's leads me to think this may not have been an official airport closure. Nevertheless; I will do a better job of scanning the area around the runway from now on for any indication of problems.
Single Private Pilot reported landing at a closed airport; but there was no Notam or 'X' on runway indicating 'closed' but preceding the runway in the grass was the X.