AN ACR MLG PLT RPTS THAT THERE IS A DEAD SPOT IN COMS AT DTW ON THE GND.

Date: 1993-06 · Aircraft: Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|conflict-airborne-conflict|deviation-track-heading-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|other-unspecified

Synopsis

AN ACR MLG PLT RPTS THAT THERE IS A DEAD SPOT IN COMS AT DTW ON THE GND.

Narrative

WE WERE #1 FOR TKOF ON RWY 3C; AND WE NOTED VERY SCRATCHY XMISSIONS THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TWR. WE TUNED BOTH RADIOS TO TWR IN ORDER TO IMPROVE OUR PROBABILITY OF CLR RECEPTION. POOR RECEPTION AT THIS SPOT IS COMMON AND IS WELL KNOWN TO TWR PERSONNEL. I HOPED IT WOULD IMPROVE WHEN THEY MOVED THE TWR; BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM ANY BETTER. WE REQUESTED A REPEAT OF LAST XMISSION; AND IT WAS CLRNC INTO POS FOR US. TWR WAS STILL SCRATCHY BUT UNDERSTANDABLE. WHEN TKOF CLRNC CAME; IT TOO WAS SCRATCHY; AND NEITHER PLT HEARD ANYTHING MORE THAN CLRNC TO TKOF. DURING THE INITIAL TKOF CLB; WE EXPERIENCED A TCASII RA ON TFC THAT HAD TAKEN OFF ON RWY 3R. TWR ISSUED A FREQ CHANGE TO DEP; AND WHEN WE CHKED IN; HE ASKED IF WE WERE MAINTAINING HDG 360 DEGS. WHEN WE REPLIED IN THE NEGATIVE; HE ASSIGNED HDG 350 DEGS. I CANNOT DETERMINE IF TWR ASSIGNED 360 DEGS; AND WE DID NOT HEAR IT BECAUSE OF POOR RECEPTION OR IF HE SIMPLY FAILED TO ASSIGN A DIVERGENT HDG. I WISH WE HAD BEEN ASSIGNED 360 DEGS; FOR IT MIGHT HAVE IMPROVED OUR SEPARATION FROM THE TFC OFF RWY 3R. IN ANY EVENT; THE RADIO DEAD SPOT AT THE S END OF RWY 3C SHOULD BE CORRECTED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH CHICAGO QUALITY CTL REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: THE QUALITY CTL PERSON AT DTW WOULD NOT TALK ABOUT THIS PROB. HE SENT ME TO THE REGIONAL QUALITY CTL PERSON IN CHICAGO. THIS PERSON ADMITS THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT DTW COMS BLIND SPOTS (HIS FILE IS 'ABOUT A FOOT THICK' FOR DTW). THERE IS A NEW TWR AT DTW. THE TRANSCEIVERS WERE MOVED TO THE NEW TWR ABOUT 9 MONTHS AGO IN AN ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THIS PROB AND THEY ARE NOW IN A 'TEST STATUS' TO SEE IF THERE HAS BEEN ANY CONFLICT WITH ANY OTHER FACILITY CAUSED BY THE NEW LOCATION. HE IS WILLING TO DISCUSS ANY COMPLAINT ABOUT COM PROBS. THE RPTING PLT HAS BEEN BASED AT DTW FOR QUITE SOME TIME. HE HAS SEEN SEVERAL COMS PROBS AT DTW BUT THIS IS HIS FIRST WRITTEN RPT. HE IS NOT ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE 'FOOT THICK' FILE.

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