Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Retractable Gear
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 24; Flight Crew Total 1176; Flight Crew Type 1072
Confusion; Situational Awareness
Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Airport; Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure
I was flying the LDA 35 approach to Runway 35; descending via the approach profile and tracking the localizer. At WEEEL (after the FAF) I disconnected the autopilot to hand fly the last part of the approach. I lined up with the runway and continued descending and changed to Tower. I was cleared to land Runway 35. Shortly after; I was called by Tower and told I was lined up with the wrong runway; Runway 34R. I immediately side-stepped; and landed on the correct runway; Runway 35.Today I re-flew the approach; with an instructor. He noted how hard it is to identify Runway 35; even when close on the approach. Runway 34R looks like it would be correct. We took some photos during the approach to further study the way the runways look. From now on I will stay on the localizer until minimums.
A pilot flying the SLC LDA/DME Runway 35 Approach lined up on Runway 34R after transitioning to a visual approach. ATC called him about his error and he realized the difficulty of visually distinguishing Runways 35 from 34R.