ALLEGED ERRONEOUS PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE BY SMA. PROX OF ATA WITHOUT CALLING TWR.

Date: 1993-02 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Retractable Gear

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-airspace-violation-entry-or-exit|other-unspecified

Synopsis

ALLEGED ERRONEOUS PENETRATION OF AIRSPACE BY SMA. PROX OF ATA WITHOUT CALLING TWR.

Narrative

I WAS FLYING WITH A FRIEND AND SHOOTING THE VOR/DME-A APCH TO GREENVILLE/MAJORS ARPT. WE HAD FLOWN THERE 2 TIMES BEFORE AND THE TWR WAS CLOSED DURING THE DAY EACH TIME. ON OUR APCH TO MAJORS FIELD; I CALLED TWR ON 118.65 CTAF AND NO ONE ANSWERED OUR CALL. WE THEN ASSUMED THE TWR WAS CLOSED LIKE ALL THE OTHER TIMES WE HAD BEEN THERE. WE SWITCHED OUR FREQ TO UNICOM 122.95 AND BROADCASTED OUR INTENTIONS AND COMPLIED WITH NORMAL UNCTLED FIELD RPTING. WE MAINTAINED VFR ON A SEVERE CLR DAY. THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC HEARD OR SEEN ON THE ARPT WHILE WE FLEW THE VOR/DME-A MISSED APCH THEN ANOTHER VOR/DME-A TO CIRCLE AND LAND. AFTER WE LANDED; TAXIED CLR TO THE FBO AND SHUT DOWN; WE DID SEE ANOTHER ACFT TAXIING OUT FOR TKOF. AT THE FBO; WE STOPPED FOR REFRESHMENTS AND WERE TOLD TO CALL THE TWR. WE WERE ADVISED OF THEIR OPERATING HRS AND TOLD TO USE THE CTAF FREQ FOR UNCTLED RPTING. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: THE ODD HRS OF OPS OF THE CTL TWR 9:00-4:00 (MON-FRI). THE TWR NOT ANSWERING OUR CALL ON 118.65 CTAF WHILE THERE WAS NO ACFT IN THE AREA. THE TWR DID LISTEN TO US ON 122.95; SO THEY KNEW WHAT WE WERE DOING. THEY FAILED TO CALL US ON 122.95 AND TELL US TO COME UP 118.65 CTAF. WE HEARD NOTHING AND SAW NOTHING. THE TWR SHOULD BE NOTAMED CLOSED USING THE BUJ VORTAC IDENT (WHICH IS AN IAF FOR THE VOR/DME-A APCH) USE THE VOICE PORTION OF IDENT.

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