A CESSNA 208B ON IFR FLT PLAN HAS LOSS OF VHF #1 AND #2 COM TRANSCEIVERS AND CONTINUES ON FLT PLAN AS FILED IN VFR CONDITIONS.
Synopsis
A CESSNA 208B ON IFR FLT PLAN HAS LOSS OF VHF #1 AND #2 COM TRANSCEIVERS AND CONTINUES ON FLT PLAN AS FILED IN VFR CONDITIONS.
Narrative
ON THE MORNING OF AUG/XA/01; I TOOK OFF FROM AFW WITH A LOAD OF FREIGHT. I WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN GOING TO SAT. THE WX WAS VFR AND ALL EQUIP ON MY AIRPLANE WAS WORKING NORMALLY. TWR INSTRUCTED ME TO CONTACT DEP ON 118.1; WHICH I DID. DEP TOLD ME TO CLB AND MAINTAIN 3000 FT; WHICH I DID. DEP THEN CALLED ME TO CONTACT DEP ON 135.97; WHICH I ACKNOWLEDGED. WHEN I SWITCHED FREQS; I NOTICED I COULD NOT XMIT ON MY #1 COM. I ALSO NOTICED I COULD NOT RECEIVE. I SWITCHED TO MY #2 RADIO TO CALL DEP AND DISCOVERED IT ALSO WAS INOP. MY INITIAL FEELINGS WERE OF TOTAL DISBELIEF! I MAINTAINED ALT AND HDG WHILE I CHKED CIRCUIT BREAKERS; SQUELCH; HOT RADIOS; ETC. I FOUND NOTHING ABNORMAL. I TRIED LISTENING OVER THE NAVAID -- NOTHING. AT THIS POINT I ACCEPTED THE FACT I HAD A TOTAL COM RADIO FAILURE. NAV RECEIVERS WERE WORKING. IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I LOOKED AT THE REGS. AS I TRIED TO RECALL WHAT I SHOULD DO IN THIS SIT; ALL I COULD REMEMBER WAS WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE IFR AND YOUR RADIOS FAIL. I WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN AND OUR COMPANY OPS MANUAL SAYS WHEN WE'RE CARRYING FREIGHT WE DO NOT GO VFR. I THOUGHT ABOUT TURNING AROUND AND GOING BACK TO AFW BUT DUE TO THE HVY TFC IN THE AREA I FELT VERY UNEASY ABOUT DOING THAT AND I FELT IT WOULD NOT BE A SAFE THING TO DO. I DECIDED TO SQUAWK 7600 AND CONTINUE ON UNDER THE RULES FOR RADIO FAILURE WHEN YOU'RE IFR. I FLEW MY FLT PLAN RTE AND LANDED SAFELY AT SAT. AFTER REVIEWING THE FARS; I THINK NOW THAT THE CORRECT ACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO GO VFR AND LAND AT A NEARBY ARPT. I ADMIT THOUGH I AM NOT TOTALLY SURE ABOUT THIS. OTHER PLTS I'VE TALKED TO HAVE VARIED OPINIONS. ONE SAYS I DID THE RIGHT THING. MY CHIEF PLT SAYS HE ALSO WOULD NOT HAVE TURNED AROUND TO GO BACK TO AFW. ANYWAY; I'M STILL A LITTLE UNCERTAIN ABOUT WHAT THE CORRECT ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED ON THE GND; MAINT REPLACED THE #1 COM TRANSCEIVER BUT NEVER ADVISED THE FIX ON #2 COM SYS. THE RPTR SAID THE RULES FOR THE LOST COM PROC ARE NOW VERY CLR.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.