ACR DEPARTS VFR INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING DELAY DUE TO INBOUND TFC.
Synopsis
ACR DEPARTS VFR INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING DELAY DUE TO INBOUND TFC.
Narrative
WE TAXIED OUT FOR TKOF AT BZN ARPT. BZN IS AN UNCTLED ARPT WITH AN ARPT ADVISORY SVC PROVIDING LCL TFC INFO. WE CALLED ZLC FOR OUR CLRNC AND WERE TOLD TO EXPECT A DELAY DUE TO AN INBOUND ACFT. THE FO TALKED TO THE INBOUND ACFT ON AAS FREQ TO FIND HIS LOCATION. WE THEN SAW THE ACFT VISUALLY WHO WAS ABOUT TO ENTER DOWNWIND. THE FO CALLED CTR AND ASKED IF WE COULD DEPART VFR AND PICK UP OUR CLRNC ONCE AIRBORNE. ZLC SAID THAT WOULD BE OK. IT IS VERY COMMON TO BE GIVEN A VFR CLB AS PART OF THE IFR CLRNC SO WE BOTH THOUGHT THAT WAS ABOUT WHAT WE WERE DOING ANYWAY. WE MADE A VFR DEP WITH THE INCOMING ACFT IN SIGHT. WE PICKED UP OUR IFR CLRNC AIRBORNE AND PROCEEDED TO OUR DEST WITHOUT INCIDENT. AFTER THE FLT; I WAS NOT SURE IF OUR VFR DEP WAS AUTHORIZED IN OUR OPS MANUAL. IN THE MANUAL'S OPS SPECIFICATIONS; IT STATES THAT AT ARPTS WITHOUT OPERATING ATC FACILITIES (AS WAS THE CASE AT BZN); THE FLT MAY DEPART VFR IF IT IS NOT OTHERWISE POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN AN IFR CLRNC. THE IFR CLRNC MUST BE PICKED UP WITHIN 50 MI. THIS PROBABLY WAS NOT THE CASE HERE; AS WE HAD A MEANS TO RECEIVE THE CLRNC; BUT WERE JUST EXPERIENCING A DELAY IN RECEIVING IT. I AM NOT QUITE SURE HOW THE FAA WOULD INTERPRET THIS. I THINK IN THE FUTURE I WILL NOT TAKE A CHANCE AND SIMPLY WAIT UNTIL I HAVE THE CLRNC; AND MAKE THE CLB 'IN VFR CONDITIONS.' AT ANY RATE; THERE WAS NO CONFLICT WITH ANOTHER ACFT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.