B737 FLC CONCERNED WITH LAX FREQ CONGESTION AND LAX GND CTL RESPONSE. RPTR SUGGESTS DEVELOPMENT OF ANOTHER GND CTL FREQ.
Synopsis
B737 FLC CONCERNED WITH LAX FREQ CONGESTION AND LAX GND CTL RESPONSE. RPTR SUGGESTS DEVELOPMENT OF ANOTHER GND CTL FREQ.
Narrative
IN MY 14 YRS OF WORKING; I HAVE NEVER FOUND MYSELF WRITING ABOUT SUCH A SUBJECT. IN GENERAL; 99.9% OF ALL FAA ATC PERSONNEL ARE FRIENDLY; COOPERATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL. WE WERE READY TO PUSH AT XX17Z; THE RADIOS WERE VERY BUSY ON GND 121.75. WE WAITED AND WAITED PATIENTLY ATTEMPTING TO GET OUR REQUEST IN FOR THE PUSH. WE TRIED ONCE AND WERE NOT SURE IF THE GND CTLR RECEIVED OUR REQUEST. FINALLY AFTER WAITING ABOUT 6 MINS; I (THE CAPT) DECIDED TO MAKE THE RADIO XMISSION; SINCE WE COULD NOT SEEM TO GET IN A XMISSION. I ASKED FO TO COMMUNICATE OUR DIFFICULTIES TO RAMP IN HOPES THAT THEY COULD CALL GND ON A LANDLINE. I WAS PATIENT AND POLITE AND FINALLY FOUND A BREAK AND REQUESTED A PUSH ONCE -- GOT NOT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. REQUESTED AGAIN. AS ALL I WANTED WAS TO KNOW WAS THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED OUR REQUEST. THE GND CTLR RESPONDED 'YEAH; I HEARD YOU. YOU HAVE TFC BEHIND YOU.' I ASKED RAMP PERSONNEL IF THEY SAW ANYONE. THEY CONFIRMED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE; IF ANY; TFC. THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE PATIENT AND PROFESSIONAL IN OUR XMISSIONS. AT XP25Z; THE GND CTLR MADE AN OBVIOUSLY BELLIGERENT STATEMENT TO THE B767 THAT WANTED OUR GATE; 'HE'S NOT GOING TO PUSH FOR A WHILE;' REFERRING TO OUR FLT. WE SAT. FINALLY; ABOUT XP32Z; WE WERE GIVEN PUSH CLRNC AFTER AN AIRBUS. WE GOT BACK ABOUT 30 YARDS AND GND CTLR TOLD US TO PULL BACK TO THE GATE AND WAIT FOR THE AIRBUS. I COULDN'T CONFIRM WHICH AIRBUS THE RAMP PERSONNEL THOUGHT THEY SAW; BUT THE FO CONFIRMED ONE HAD PASSED OUR 6 O'CLOCK POS. FINALLY AT ABOUT XP35; WE PUSHED AGAIN AND WERE ASSIGNED RWY 24L. I FLY THIS TRIP REGULARLY AND HAVE NEVER UTILIZED RWY 24L FOR THIS FLT. WE MISSED OUR ESTIMATED DEP CLRNC TIME OF XP34 DURING THIS ENTIRE TIME OF WAITING TO GET PUSH CLRNC. WE FINALLY FINISHED PUSHING BACK AT XP38. WE SAT PATIENTLY ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A TAXI REQUEST FROM XP38 UNTIL XP45. THE RADIO WAS UNBELIEVABLY BUSY. WE NEVER WERE ABLE TO XMIT ONE REQUEST FOR TAXI WHEN THE GND CTLR BELLIGERENTLY ASKED; 'ACR X; ARE YOU READY TO GO?' MY FO WAS VERY; VERY POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL. AT XP38; THERE WAS A CHANGE IN PERSONNEL ON THE FREQ. JUST PRIOR TO THE SHIFT CHANGE; THE CTLR MADE THE STATEMENT 'NOW EVERYBODY STAND BY.' AN IMPORTANT POINT IS THAT THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN A RESPONSE TO AN ACFT'S REQUEST IS NOT POSSIBLE; BUT EVENTUALLY IT MUST BE PROVIDED. WHEN A FREQ IS SO BUSY THAT YOU HAVE TO WAIT TO GET A XMISSION THROUGH FOR THE AMOUNT OF TIME WE WAITED; THE SYS IS NOT WORKING AND NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED. THE SAFETY ISSUE HERE IS THAT IF WE HAD AN ENG FIRE ON STARTUP OR SOME OTHER EMER ON THE GND; WE WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPEDED FROM GETTING A RESPONSE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR SUGGESTS DEVELOPMENT AND CREATION OF ANOTHER GND CTL FREQ AT LAX. RPTR STATES IT'S 'ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE' TO OBTAIN CLRNC CLARIFICATION OR REQUESTS.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.