PLT TAXIING ACROSS MAIN RWY AT AN UNCTLED ARPT DID NOT SEE ANOTHER ACFT APCHING TO LAND UNTIL STARTING ACROSS THE RWY. UNICOM RADIO CALLS MISSED BECAUSE RPTR DID NOT HAVE THE COM SELECTOR ON THE UNICOM FREQ.

1996-01 · NASA ASRS report 326277

Date: 1996-01 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-other-unknown|other-unspecified

Synopsis

PLT TAXIING ACROSS MAIN RWY AT AN UNCTLED ARPT DID NOT SEE ANOTHER ACFT APCHING TO LAND UNTIL STARTING ACROSS THE RWY. UNICOM RADIO CALLS MISSED BECAUSE RPTR DID NOT HAVE THE COM SELECTOR ON THE UNICOM FREQ.

Narrative

XING RWY 23 AT WDR. ON TAXI OUT; CAME TO RWY XING POINT. NO OBSERVED TFC; VISUAL OR RADIO; AND NO RESPONSE TO XING ANNOUNCED. OTHER PLT WAS TAXIING WHILE I DID RADIO CALLS AND SETTINGS. AS WE TURNED INTO THE XING I NOTICED THAT FLIP-FLOP WAS ON WRONG FREQ; AND RESELECTED IT TO UNICOM. WE ENTERED THE RWY AREA WITH NO VISIBLE TFC; BUT THEN I HEARD A SUDDEN ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN ACFT ON 'SHORT FINAL!' I LOOKED AGAIN (WITH FULL VIEW OF THE AREA DUE TO OUR BEING IN A LOW WING) AND SAW NO TFC ON FINAL -- WE ARE XING. I AM LOOKING. AS WE BEGAN TO CLR THE RWY; A TWIN (BARON) 'APPEARED' AT THE RWY END (ABOUT 1900 FT AWAY) ABOUT WINGSPAN HIGH. HE HAD BEEN INVISIBLE AGAINST THE TREE-LINE BACKGND IN A HEAD-ON PROFILE. SURPRISE! AS WE CLRED THE RWY; OTHER ACFT THEN INITIATED A GAR FROM BEGINNING OF FLARE. IT SEEMED TO BE A 2-PLTS MIND CHANGE; RATHER THAN A DELAYED RESPONSE BY SAME INDIVIDUAL WHO HAD MADE THE 'SHORT FINAL' ANNOUNCEMENT AS THEY CONTINUED THE APCH. I MADE A RADIO APOLOGY FOR THE EVENT AND THE BARON LANDED WITH NO COMMENT OR FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS I COULD HEAR. AS WE PREPARED FOR TKOF; HE REMAINED STOPPED ON TXWY AT MIDFIELD AND WE DEPARTED. HUMAN FACTOR: LIMITS OF VISION TO SEE ACFT AGAINST A MOTTLED BACKGND. PLT'S RELIANCE ON RADIO XMISSIONS TO 'ENSURE' NO TFC; OR THAT THEIR PRESENCE IS KNOWN. (I HAVE DUBBED THIS 'THE RADIO CLOAK OF COLLISION IMMUNITY' AND LOTS OF PLTS ARE WEARING IT.) THE FAULT WAS MINE; TECHNICALLY; BUT A LNDG LIGHT 'ON' THE BARON WOULD HAVE MADE IT VISIBLE AT ALL TIMES ON FINAL. I WON'T BE CAUGHT DEAD WITHOUT MINE ON IN THE FUTURE.

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

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