FLT INSTRUCTOR COMPLAINS ABOUT FREQ OVERLAP WITH TOP 40 MUSIC STATION INTERFERENCE ON TWR FREQ.

Date: 1993-02 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear

Anomalies: other-unspecified

Synopsis

FLT INSTRUCTOR COMPLAINS ABOUT FREQ OVERLAP WITH TOP 40 MUSIC STATION INTERFERENCE ON TWR FREQ.

Narrative

WHILE FLYING AT OR NEAR DETROIT CITY ARPT THE ACFT RADIOS HAVE BEEN SUBJECT TO INTERFERENCE (SEE LOCATIONS ABOVE). THE 'NOISE' IS SO BAD THAT IT SOMETIMES DISTORTS ATC. WE CAN ACTUALLY MAKE OUT RADIO STATION CALL SIGNS AS WELL AS TOP 40 SONGS OVER OUR ACFT RECEIVERS. WE HAVE REPLACED RADIOS; ANTENNAS; CABLES; ETC; AND HAVE ELIMINATED OUR ACFT AS THE SOURCE OF THE PROB. OTHER ACFT OF VARIOUS MAKES; RADIO TYPES; ETC; HAVE ALL RPTED THIS SAME PROB. THE THING THAT CONCERNS ME IS THE FACT THAT A STUDENT PLT WITH LIMITED EXPERIENCE IS EITHER DISTRACTED BY THE INTERFERENCE; OR MISSES CALLS FROM THE TWR. THE POTENTIAL FOR AN ACCIDENT IS GREAT. WE HAVE CONTACTED THE DET CTL TWR; AS WELL AS THE FCC. WE HAVE EVEN FLOWN THE RADIO STATION ENGINEER SO THAT HE COULD OBSERVE AND POSSIBLY SOLVE THE PROB. IT SEEMS THAT EVERYONE IS 'PASSING THE BLAME' ON THE PROB AND NOTHING IS GETTING DONE. BEING THAT THIS IS A FIELD WHICH DOES A GREAT MAJORITY OF STUDENT TRAINING THIS INTERFERENCE IS A POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SIT. THE INTERFERENCE BEINGS AROUND 200 FT AGL AND PERSISTS TILL ABOUT 3000 FT AGL. IN MOST CASES THE TWR BROADCAST 'OVERCOMES' THE INTERFERENCE. HOWEVER; IN CERTAIN AREAS IN THE PATTERN OR AROUND THE FIELD IT COMPLETELY DISTORTS THE TWR BROADCAST. THERE IS NEVER ANY PROB WHEN ON THE GND. WE REALLY NEED TO REDUCE THIS PROB ASAP. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT OTHER PLTS IN FLT SCHOOL HAVE COMPLAINED AS WELL. AT TIMES ON SHORT FINAL; AT 200 FT AGL; MUSIC FROM RADIO STATION TOTALLY BLOCKS COM IN COCKPIT. IF VOLUME TURNED DOWN; TWR COM COULD BE MISSED. AN IMPOSSIBLE SIT. RPTR CONCERNED THAT SPI COULD MISS IMPORTANT TWR COM; WHEN SOLO AND CAUSE ACCIDENT. ANALYST ADVISED OF HOT LINE AND SUGGESTED CONTACTING FSDO AND PERHAPS REGION OFFICIALS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.