B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 500; Flight Crew Type 2100
Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew FLC Overrode Automation; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Procedure
On right downwind in night VMC cleared the visual to 22R at DTW. Turned base; configured normally. We loaded the ILS Y 22R based on the ATIS. It was briefed normally paying attention to the nonstandard note about the different ILS frequency and notes about 2.5 degree difference in inbound course (213 versus 216). Turned final; got LOC capture normally and finished configuring. We were cleared to land turning base. When I started to double check our runway alignment I got really confused. We were lined up on what I thought was 22R but the LOC was off center. With multiple parallels and lack of familiarity with DTW at night I got concerned. The Captain started correcting to the LOC and the aircraft was pointed away from the runway. Added to this; I could not identify 22L due to the airfield lighting configuration. 22R; the runway we had lined up on initially did have all of its MALSR lighting up minus the sequence flashers. I asked Tower to turn 22R lighting intensity up as a way to confirm that we were going to land on the correct runway. They did and the Captain adjusted back to the original/correct course and runway. No unstabilized approach and a minor misalignment for 10 seconds while we confirmed that we were indeed lined up on the correct runway.
Air Carrier First Officer reported confusion when visually acquiring which parallel runway to land on while on approach to DTW.