This is one of the few plausible explanations I've heard. One thing
seems certain .. he thought he was referencing the FAF when in
reality he was referencing the MAP. Although you'd have thought
they'd have wondered why they never got the OM indicator. Also
since it says "ADF Required" I would hope they had one .. and
then wonder why they wouldn't notice why the needle was pointing
at the tail as they approached what they THOUGHT was the FAF.
GPS's are a great tool, but they can sure confuse the situation if
your switchology gets out of whack.

"Nicholas Kliewer" wrote in message
...
I agree that they had confused the MAP with the FAF.

One scenario I am thinking is that he had dialed in the MAP
into the GPS and was planning on using it for DME. Then, when
told that he was going to be holding for half-an-hour figured
that he would dial the FAF into the GPS to use for holding and
use the DME from the FAF to determine the MAP.

When he was unexpectedly cleared for the approach while turning
inbound, he forgot that he hadn't swapped the GPS over to the FAF
yet. That would also provide an explanation why he didn't see
the airport pass on the GPS -- he thought that he was getting
distance from the FAF.