INSTRUCTOR WITH SPI ENTERS CLASS D AIRSPACE AND LANDS WITHOUT CLRNC OR TWR CONTACT.
Synopsis
INSTRUCTOR WITH SPI ENTERS CLASS D AIRSPACE AND LANDS WITHOUT CLRNC OR TWR CONTACT.
Narrative
I WAS INSTRUCTING A STUDENT PLT ON A NIGHT XCOUNTRY FROM SPRINGFIELD; IL; TO CARBONDALE; IL. THE STUDENT HAD PLANNED THE FLT IN EVERY DETAIL AND I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE WAY HE HANDLED IT. EVERYTHING WAS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN. WE HAD BEEN GETTING 'FLT FOLLOWING' BUT HAD JUST EARLIER BEEN TOLD TO 'SQUAWK VFR' SO FLT FOLLOWING WAS TERMINATED. WE BEGAN TO NEAR CARBONDALE; THE STUDENT IDENTED ALL OF THE CHKPOINTS AND STARTED TO CALL THE TWR AT CARBONDALE. AFTER SEVERAL CALLS AND NO ANSWER; I ASSUMED (MY SECOND MISTAKE); THAT THE TWR WAS CLOSED AND WE'D BE USING THE CTAF FREQ WHICH WAS THE SAME AS THE TWR. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL; CLR NIGHT AND THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO TFC AS WE NEARED THE ARPT. WE MADE OUR CALLS AS NORMAL WITH APCH AND LNDG GOING WITHOUT A FLAW. AFTER WE SHUT DOWN ONE OF THE PERSONS FROM LINE SVC CAME OUT AND ASKED US IF WE HAD RADIO PROBS AS HE COULDN'T HEAR US TALKING TO THE TWR. I TOLD HIM I THOUGHT THE TWR WAS CLOSED SINCE THEY DIDN'T ANSWER OUR CALLS. HE SAID HE WAS MONITORING THE TWR FREQ AND DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING. HE ASKED US WHAT FREQ WE WERE USING. WHEN I TOLD HIM; HE SAID THAT WAS THE WRONG FREQ AND GAVE US THE PROPER FREQ. HE SAID WE WERE USING AN OLD FREQ THAT HAD BEEN CHANGED SOME TIME AGO. WITH MUCH 'EGG' ON MY FACE AND VERY EMBARRASSED; I CHKED THE CHART THE STUDENT WAS USING. SURE ENOUGH; IT WAS OUT OF DATE. XCHKING WITH A CURRENT ARPT FACILITY DIRECTORY I FOUND THAT THE FREQ WE WERE USING HAD BEEN CHANGED. THIS TAUGHT ME A GOOD LESSON. EVEN THOUGH YOUR STUDENT SEEMS TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN ORDER; YOU'D BETTER THOROUGHLY CHK THROUGH THEIR FLT PLAN TO ENSURE THE PROPER INFO IS BEING USED (MY FIRST MISTAKE).
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.