A GOV HELI TOOK OFF INTO IMC WITHOUT A PROPER CLRNC.
Synopsis
A GOV HELI TOOK OFF INTO IMC WITHOUT A PROPER CLRNC.
Narrative
I'VE BEEN A GOV PLT IN AK FOR THE PAST 3 YRS; DEPLOYING TO CORDOVA DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS TO STAFF A SEASONAL ALERT SITE FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE. I HAD BEEN EXPERIENCING CONFUSION (ALONG WITH COMMERCIAL ACR'S) ON THE ATC RELATION TO THE FIELD DUE TO A RECENT (APPROX 10 DAYS AGO) CLOSURE OF THE CO-LOCATED CORDOVA FSS. THE DAY IN QUESTION WAS MY FIRST IFR DAY OF MY FIRST DEPLOYMENT HERE IN 8 MONTHS. I DID NOT ADEQUATELY THINK THROUGH MY AIRSPACE CONSIDERATIONS AND; MAKING NUMEROUS CALLS ON THE CTAF; DEPARTED THE FIELD (ADD AN IFR ACTIVE CTL ZONE) WITHOUT CLRNC TO DO SO. OBSERVERS AT THE CORDOVA WX STATION ALERTLY RPTED MY DEP TO THE JUNEAU FSS; AND FOR A PERIOD; MY PRESENCE IN THE CTL ZONE WITHOUT COM WITH JUNEAU CAUSED SOME ATC DELAYS FOR IFR TFC. I WOULD SAY THIS INDISCRETION ON MY PART WAS PRETTY CUT AND DRIED BUT THE CURRENT NEW FREQ SETUP AT THIS BUSY SEASONAL ARPT LENDS ITSELF EASILY TO FUTURE; SIMILAR PROBS. THE PROBS AS I SEE THEM: 1) REMOTING OUT THE CDV FSS TO JUNEAU STRIKES MANY LCL AVIATORS AS AN 'INJUSTICE' ROBBING THEM OF THEIR LCL LINK TO THE FAA. PLTS SET IN THEIR WAYS CONTINUE TO CALL 'CDV RADIO' ON 123.6 -- THE OLD CDV FSS FREQ. CONTRACT WX PERSONNEL POLITELY ANSWER ON THAT FREQ AND PROVIDE CDV WX -- ALLOWING CONFUSION TO CREEP IN. THE PLT THINKS HE JUST GOT AN ADVISORY FROM THE FAA. 123.6; HOWEVER; IS NOW CTAF WITH ONLY A WX ADVISORY SVC AVAILABLE ON THAT FREQ. 2) JUNEAU RADIO NOW CTLS THE CTL ZONE ON SEPARATE FREQS FROM CTAF (122.2/122.65) WHICH; OF COURSE; HAVE NOT MADE IT ONTO THE CURRENT SECTIONAL. HAVING THE FSS REMOTED ON A FREQ OTHER THAN THE CTAF AT AN ARPT WITH A SIGNIFICANT MIX OF IFR AND VFR TFC SEEMS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER. ACFT WITH A SINGLE VHF-AM MUST CHOOSE BTWN CHKING IN WITH RADIO AND KEEPING ABREAST OF TFC ON CTAF -- WHICH IS USED WELL BY THE LCL FLYING PUBLIC TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH ONE ANOTHER. I FEEL THE CONFUSION THAT LED ME TO MAKE THIS AIRSPACE MISTAKE WAS FUELED BY THE RECENT CHANGES TO LCL FREQS. I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT THE JUNEAU FSS FREQ BE ADJUSTED TO COINCIDE WITH THE CTAF -- NAMELY HAVE RADIO AVAILABLE ON THE CTAF (123.6) TO MAKE TFC AND FSS AVAILABLE ON THE SAME NET; AS HAS WORKED SO WELL HERE IN THE PAST WITH CORDOVA FSS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: THE RPTING PLT STATES THAT THIS SIT HAS TAKEN CARE OF ITSELF. 123.6 IS NOW REMOTED TO JUNEAU RADIO. THE LCL WX OBSERVATION STATION (CONTRACT) HAS ITS OWN FREQ WHICH IS NOT YET PUBLISHED. THE WHOLE CHANGEOVER OP WAS HANDLED POORLY AND MUCH OF IT WAS DONE BY WORD OF MOUTH. THE FSS PERSONNEL WERE TRAINING THEIR CONTRACT REPLACEMENTS AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT AND THERE WAS A LOT OF FRICTION IN THE OFFICE. THERE WAS NO TFC CONFLICT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.