PLT FAILS TO COMPLY WITH TWR INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLRING THE RWY AFTER LNDG.
Synopsis
PLT FAILS TO COMPLY WITH TWR INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLRING THE RWY AFTER LNDG.
Narrative
FOLLOWING AN IMC DSCNT TO VISUAL CONDITIONS; SIGNIFICANT TURB WAS ENCOUNTERED. APPARENTLY AS I WAS TUNING MY RADIO FROM APCH CTL FREQ TO GND CTL FREQ; I MUST HAVE ACCIDENTALLY BUMPED THE SELECTOR FREQ SWITCH FROM TWR; WHICH HAD PREVIOUSLY CLRED ME TO LAND ON RWY 29. I WAS ABOUT 4 MI OUT WHEN CLRED TO LAND. I HEARD NO FURTHER RADIO TFC. AFTER ROLLOUT; I REACHED TO SWITCH TO GND AND DISCOVERED THAT I WAS ALREADY ON THAT FREQ. I CONTACTED GND PRIOR TO THE INTXN OF RWY 7/25 AND REQUESTED BACK TAXI ON RWY 25. GND APPROVED THAT AND INSTRUCTED ME TO TURN L ON TXWY A. I WAS DISTRACTED BY AN ACFT IN POS ON RWY 25 AND MISSED TXWY A. GND INSTRUCTED ME TO MAKE AN IMMEDIATE L TURN ON THE NEXT TXWY; WHICH I DID. DURING TAXI TO THE FBO; GND INSTRUCTED ME TO CALL THE TWR ON THE TELEPHONE. I CALLED IMMEDIATELY. I WAS ASKED IF I HEARD THE TWR INSTRUCT ME TO ROLL OUT PAST RWY 7/25 AND EXIT AT TXWY G. I SAID; 'NEGATIVE' AND TOLD THEM THAT I HAD SOMEHOW BEEN ON GND CTL FREQ SHORTLY AFTER I WAS CLRED TO LAND. I APOLOGIZED FOR MISSING TXWY A. THIS INCIDENT RESULTED FROM 1) POOR ERGONOMIC DESIGN OF THE RADIO CTL HEAD. IN THIS CASE; I THINK I BUMPED THE FREQ SELECTOR SWITCH DURING TURB OR BUMPED IT AS I SELECTED THE NEXT STANDBY FREQ. 2) AS A RESULT OF BEING OFF FREQ (TWR) I DID NOT HEAR MY POST LNDG INSTRUCTIONS AND DID NOT KNOW AN ACFT WAS IN POS ON RWY 25. IF I KNEW THAT; I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LOOKING TO DETERMINE HIS INTENTIONS AND WOULD HAVE MADE MY TURN ON TXWY A. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: I WAS DISTRACTED BY THE EMT AND NURSE ON THE INTERCOM. SINGLE PLT OPS. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: FAR 135 AIR AMBULANCE OPS SHOULD BE MANDATED BY FARS TO BE 2 PLT OPS -- PERIOD! I AM A RETIRED MIL PLT WITH 4 JET TYPE RATINGS. THIS TYPE FLYING IS THE MOST DEMANDING/DANGEROUS I HAVE EVER DONE. NORMALLY; I ALWAYS HAVE THE THIRD RADIO TUNED TO THE TWR; TODAY TOO MANY THINGS WERE GOING ON AND I DIDN'T. IT COULD HAVE COST MORE THAN A PHONE CALL TO THE TWR!
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.