RPTR QUESTIONS THE FRG LCL CTLR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF THE INCIDENT; WHETHER THEY RECEIVED A CLRNC TO TURN BASE.

2000-02 · NASA ASRS report 462864

Date: 2000-02 · Aircraft: Cessna 150 · Phase: landing

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance

Synopsis

RPTR QUESTIONS THE FRG LCL CTLR SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF THE INCIDENT; WHETHER THEY RECEIVED A CLRNC TO TURN BASE.

Narrative

ON A TRAINING FLT IN THE PATTERN OF REPUBLIC ARPT (FRG); FARMINGDALE; NY; I WAS WITH A STUDENT TRYING TO GET SOME TOUCH AND GOES (WITH A STRONG XWIND). AFTER TKOF WE TURNED AS CLRED R; AND WHEN WE WERE ABEAM THE TWR; ON R DOWNWIND; I INSTRUCTED MY STUDENT TO RPT OUR POS TO THE TWR; WHICH HE DID. WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING CLRNC; ACFT X #3 BEHIND A CHEROKEE (I AM NOT SURE WHETHER IT WAS A CHEROKEE OR ANOTHER LOW WING AIRPLANE) ON L BASE TO A 2 MI FINAL. I SAW THE CHEROKEE WHEN IT TURNED FINAL; APPROX 2 MI FROM THE THRESHOLD; IN A 2 O'CLOCK POS IN RELATION TO MY DOWNWIND. I HAD A CHANCE TO CALL THE TWR WHEN WE WERE ABEAM THE CHEROKEE BUT RECEIVED NO ANSWER (ACFT X HAS TFC IN SIGHT); I TRIED A SECOND TIME AND THEN A THIRD TIME BEFORE PROCEEDING BEHIND MY TFC. I WAS ABOVE THE LIE; ABOUT 4 MI N OF THE ARPT AND 2-3 MI BEHIND MY TFC WHICH I HAD IN SIGHT. WHEN I WAS ESTABLISHED ON FINAL THE TWR SUDDENLY REMEMBERED ME AND ASKED ABOUT MY POS; WHICH I RPTED. IN AN URGENT CALL THEY TOLD ME I HAD NOT BEEN CLRED TO TURN BASE; WITHOUT ISSUING ANY FURTHER CLRNC. OBVIOUSLY THE FACT THAT I HAD NOT BEEN CLRED WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN RESOLVING THE SIT WITH A CLRNC. UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT I WAS IN A DANGEROUS POS FOR MYSELF AND FOR OTHERS I TURNED BACK TO DOWNWIND IN A 180 DEG SHALLOW R TURN. FULLY AWARE THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD DECISION; BUT SINCE THE TWR WAS MAKING A PRIORITY FROM THE FACT THAT I HAD NOT BEEN CLRED; I WAS LEFT WITH NO FURTHER INSTRUCTION. WHILE BEGINNING THE MANEUVER I CALLED TWR TO INFORM THEM AND EXPECTED AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER. IN THE MEANTIME THEY HAD LOST INTEREST IN ME AND ONCE MORE I WAS IN A NO-CLRNC SIT. AFTER A WHILE (ABOUT 2 MINS); THEY CAME BACK TO ME AND GAVE ME SOME INSTRUCTIONS TAKING ME TO AN 8 MI FINAL; WAY OUT OF THEIR CLASS D AIRSPACE. WHEN I FINALLY MADE IT TO THE ARPT THEY ASKED ME TO DISCONTINUE TOUCH AND GOES SINCE I WAS NOT ABLE TO FLY THE PATTERN. AND I MUST AGREE THAT I CANNOT FLY SUCH AN UNPREDICTABLE PATTERN THAT EXTENDS OUT OF THEIR CTLED AIRSPACE. SUPPOSEDLY I INTERFERED WITH THE NORMAL FLOW AND OTHER AIRPLANES (WHICH IS POSSIBLE). HAD TWR GIVEN ME A CLRNC RATHER THAN A LECTURE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR EVERYBODY. FRG HAS A LIMITED RADAR SVC (BRITE) AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO BETTER SERVE THE PLTS. NOT ANSWERING A CALL 3 TIMES IS NOT ACCEPTABLE; AND WHEN A PLT DOES NOT ANSWER 3 TIMES THEY GET REALLY UPSET. HOW COME THEY DON'T LIVE BY THEIR OWN RULES? MORE IMPORTANT: REGARDLESS OF ANY MISTAKE I MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT HAVE DONE; THE RIGHT PRIORITY IS TO ISSUE A CLRNC; CONTINUE ON FINAL; TURN R 180 DEGS; FLY A HEADING OF...AND THEN ONLY TO INFORM THE PLT THAT HE WAS NOT CLRED. RADIO FREQS AND PATTERNS ARE NOT THE PLACE FOR MISPLACED PRIDE OR AUTH CONTEST: REGARDLESS OF HOW UPSET I MAY BE WITH ATC I NEVER EVER ARGUE ON THE FREQ. THIS RPT IS NOT AN ISOLATED FACT BUT IT IS A TREND IN FRG WHERE ANYTHING SMALLER THAN A CITATION IS BARELY TOLERATED. I FLY FROM THIS ARPT ABOUT 5 DAYS A WK; 3 FLTS A DAY; AND HEAR MANY SIMILAR PROBS. ON THE OTHER HAND; LONG ISLAND ARPT (ISP) 15 MI TO THE E WHERE I GO ALMOST AS OFTEN AND DO MY TOUCH AND GOES BTWN AIRLINERS NEVER HAD A PROB OF THIS TYPE. MAKE YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. I AM NOT SURE I MADE A MISTAKE BUT CONTINUING ON DOWNWIND MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN A BETTER COURSE OF ACTION. I MAY HAVE NOT ACTED AS WELL AS I COULD HAVE BUT I STILL BELIEVE THAT FRG TWR DID NOT DO ITS JOB CORRECTLY: ANSWERING MY CALLS; GIVING INSTRUCTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE; LEAVING THE COMPLAINTS FOR A MORE APPROPRIATE TIME (OFF THE AIR).

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

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