CESSNA 172 PLT LANDED DOWNWIND AT DEST ARPT WITHOUT CONTACTING THE TWR BEFORE LNDG.
Synopsis
CESSNA 172 PLT LANDED DOWNWIND AT DEST ARPT WITHOUT CONTACTING THE TWR BEFORE LNDG.
Narrative
MY WX BRIEFING I GOT BEFORE FLT WAS CLR WX AND WIND WAS FROM 350 DEGS AT 20 KTS. NO NOTAMS. I STARTED MY FLT FROM 27J AND CONTACTED AUGUSTA APCH FOR FLT FOLLOWING AND REQUESTED HANDOFF AND ADVISORY. WAS HANDED OFF TO MACON THEN JACKSONVILLE CENTER; THEN VALDOSTA; THEN WHEN I GOT 12 MI OUT FROM MUL ARPT; VALDOSTA TOLD ME TO CONTACT MULTRIE APCH ON FREQ 128.2 I COULD NOT MAKE CONTACT SO I TRIED UNICOM ON FREQ 123.0 AND STILL NO RESPONSE SO I LANDED ON RWY 14 BECAUSE IT WAS FAVORING THE WIND. THE GUY IN A TRUCK WITH SIGN FOLLOW ME LED ME TO PARK AND THEN GAVE ME A NOTE TO CALL TWR. THAT WAS WHEN I FOUND OUT THE NOTAMS. HE TRIED TO TELL ME I WAS LNDG WITH A 20 KT TAILWIND. BUT I WAS WATCHING SMOKE FROM A FIRE AND A BLIMP ON A ROPE. MUL ARPT HAD SET UP A TEMP CTL TWR. AND THEY WERE USING RWY 32. THEY HAD FARM EQUIP ABOUT 1/2 MILE OUT FROM RWY 14 AND COULD BE HAZARDOUS AND THE BLIMP ON A ROPE COULD BE HAZARDOUS TOO. LNDG ON RWY 32 WITH A 20 KT TAILWIND COULD BE HAZARDOUS FOR SMALL ACFT. NOT KEEPING UNICOM FREQ ACTIVE COULD BE HAZARDOUS TOO. VALDOSTA SHOULD KNOW PROPER FREQ WHEN HELPING CTL TFC.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.