2001-07 · NASA ASRS report 516087
CIRRUS SR20 PLT HAD REPEATED RADIO CALLS TO THE TWR BLOCKED AT HEF.
CONTACTED HEF ATCT 10 NM NE OF HEF; ADVISED I WAS INBOUND FOR LNDG. HEF ATCT INSTRUCTED ME TO ENTER L BASE; RWY 16R; AND TO RPT 2 MI L BASE. ABOUT 3 NM FROM HEF; I HEARD NUMEROUS ACFT IN R TFC FOR RWY 16R; SO I TRIED TO CALL AND RPT 3 MI L BASE (IN ORDER TO HELP REMIND ATCT I WAS THERE; EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD REQUESTED 2 MI RPT). BUT MY XMISSION WAS BLOCKED BY A CALL FROM INBOUND BEECHJET. AFTER THE BEECHJET REPEATED THEIR CALL AND HEF ATCT RESPONDED TO THAT ACFT; I CALLED AGAIN AND RPTED 2 MI L BASE. THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. IT SOUNDED LIKE MY XMISSION MAY HAVE BEEN BLOCKED AGAIN; AS ANOTHER XMISSION WAS HEARD IMMEDIATELY AFTER I LET GO OF THE PUSH-TO-TALK SWITCH. AFTER HEF ATCT FINISHED TALKING TO THAT ACFT; I CALLED AGAIN AND RPTED 1 MI L BASE. AT THIS POINT I OBSERVED 2 ACFT -- 1 ON R BASE TO FINAL AND THE OTHER ON R DOWNWIND; TURNING BASE. THERE WAS STILL NO REPLY FROM HEF ATCT. BECAUSE OF THE TFC ON R BASE (AND I WAS ON 1 MI L BASE); I TURNED SLIGHTLY R (AWAY FROM THE ARPT) TO AVOID A POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SIT. AT THIS TIME HEF ATCT CALLED AND ASKED IF IT WAS MY ACFT ON SHORT L BASE. I REPLIED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE; AND SAID I HAD CALLED 3 TIMES BUT WAS POSSIBLY BLOCKED. HEF ATCT INSTRUCTED THE OTHER ACFT TO GO AROUND; AND CLRED ME TO LAND RWY 16R; WHICH I PROCEEDED TO DO WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I HAD ALL OTHER TFC IN SIGHT THE ENTIRE TIME; SO I DON'T THINK ANY MIDAIR COLLISIONS WERE IMMINENT. BUT THE SIT STILL REQUIRED THE OTHER ACFT TO GO AROUND; AND I BELIEVE ATC THOUGHT I HAD NOT MADE ANY POS RPTS (WHEN IN FACT I HAD MADE 3 BUT BELIEVE THEY WERE BLOCKED BY OTHER XMISSIONS). THE PRIMARY PROB IN THIS SIT WAS THE EXTREMELY HVY RADIO TFC ON THE HEF TWR FREQ. EVEN THOUGH I WAS CAREFUL TO LISTEN FIRST; AND MAKE SURE NO OTHER PARTIES WERE TALKING BEFORE XMITTING; IT APPEARS THAT 3 OF MY CALLS WERE BLOCKED BY OTHER ACFT. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THAT I WAS UNSURE OF THE PROPER PROCS TO TAKE IN THIS SIT. IT WAS NOT EXACTLY 'LOST COM' SINCE I COULD RECEIVE AND XMIT -- I JUST HAD THE BAD LUCK TO HAVE MY XMISSIONS STEPPED ON MULTIPLE TIMES. ON THE ONE HAND; AT THE 2 MI L BASE POS; I CONSIDERED TURNING R AND STAYING AWAY FROM THE ARPT UNTIL I COULD MAKE A POS RPT TO THE TWR. ON THE OTHER HAND; I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO CONTINUE MAKING THE L PATTERN; AS THAT WAS THE LAST INSTRUCTION GIVEN BY THE TWR. I DID FINALLY START TO BREAK OFF THE PATTERN AWAY FROM THE ARPT WHEN I THOUGHT IT MIGHT PRESENT A HAZARDOUS SIT; WHICH IS WHEN ATCT CALLED ME AND CLRED ME TO LAND. IN THE FUTURE; I WILL ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN EARLIER POS RPT IF THE FREQ IS CONGESTED (IE; START TRYING TO RPT 4-5 MI OUT). BUT ON EXTREMELY BUSY DAYS LIKE TODAY; MY XMISSIONS COULD STILL BE BLOCKED; GIVEN THE HIGH VOLUME OF TFC. SITS LIKE THESE STILL MIGHT OCCUR UNTIL THE ATC SYS IS MOVED TO A DATA LINK FORMAT. UNTIL THEN; HAZARDOUS SITS ARE BEST AVOIDED BY KEEPING THE EYES AND EARS PEELED; IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN SEPARATION.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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