LOSS OF COM FREQ WHEN A B737-700 FLC SELECTS THE WRONG TWR FREQ; RECEIVING TWR BUT TWR NOT RECEIVING THEIR READBACKS ON 123 PT 85 AT ATL; GA.

Narrative

HAD AN EDCT OF XA07; BLOCKED OUT AT XA58; AT APPROX XA10 ATLANTA GND CTL TOLD US TO FOLLOW A TURBOPROP TO RWY 27R. APCHING 'RUN-UP AREA;' FO ASKED ME IF IT WAS OK TO SWITCH TO TWR FREQ. I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS; BUT I DID NOT WANT TO MICRO-MANAGE THE FO WHO WAS NEW ON THE AIRPLANE; AND HAD RECEIVED A FAIR AMOUNT OF TUTORING FROM ME DURING THIS 4-DAY TRIP (I NORMALLY LIKE GND CTL TO HAND ME OFF TO TWR WHEN AN EDCT IS PRESENT; AND THE COMMERCIAL CHART SHOWS 2 POSSIBLE TWR FREQS FOR THE S SIDE OF THE ARPT). SO I LET THE FO SWITCH TO A TWR FREQ...SHE CHOSE 123.85. I THOUGHT THAT IF THAT FREQ WAS NO GOOD; WE WOULD REALIZE IT BY SILENCE ON THE FREQ AND THEN CHANGE TO THE OTHER ONE. HOWEVER; I NOTICED THAT WE COULD HEAR THE CTL TWR WORKING OUR RWY; BUT NOT HEAR READBACKS FROM AIRPLANES. I TOLD THE FO THIS; AND ASKED HER IF THERE WERE ANY OTHER FREQS FOR THE TWR. IN MY MIND; THIS IS A PRETTY BIG HINT THAT WE SHOULD BE ON ANOTHER FREQ. I BELIEVE THAT; IN THE BIG PICTURE OF CRM; SOMETIMES A HINT IS BETTER THAN A STRAIGHT-OUT COMMAND; IN A NON-CRITICAL SIT; THUS KEEPING LINES OF COM AND GOOD CRM GOING; AND NOT DETERRING THE FO FROM FUTURE INPUT TO FUTURE SITS. BUT SHE DID NOT TAKE THE HINT; AND MISREAD THE (POORLY-DESIGNED) CHART; AND TOLD ME WE WERE ON THE CORRECT FREQ. SHE DID NOT NOTICE THE POSSIBILITY OF 119.1. AT THIS TIME THE TWR SPOKE TO US (ON 123.85) AND CLRED US INTO POS. WE READ BACK THE CLRNC; AND BECAUSE TWR DID NOT HAVE TO REPEAT THIS; IT THEN SEEMED TO ME THAT HE WAS ALSO LISTENING ON 123.85. THEN WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. WE READ BACK THAT CLRNC. APPARENTLY; AT THAT TIME THE TWR CTLR SEEMED TO REALIZE THAT HE WAS NOT HEARING ANYTHING FROM US AND ASKED US WHAT FREQ WE WERE ON; AND HE TOLD US THAT GND CTL HAD ASSIGNED US 119.1. HE WAS XMITTING BUT NOT RECEIVING ON 123.85. TURNED AWAY FROM GND CTL BEFORE BEING XFERRED. MISREAD (POORLY DESIGNED) CHART; TUNED IN WRONG TWR FREQ. CAPT KNEW THE SIT; BUT DID NOT WANT TO MICRO-MANAGE FO. CAPT MADE STRONG HINTS THAT WERE NOT PICKED UP ON. PUBLISH GUIDANCE AS TO WHEN TO CHANGE FREQ TO TWR FROM GND. TWR FREQ SECTION OF CHART SHOULD SAY 'S SIDE' OR 'N SIDE' INSTEAD OF RWYS 9L/R; 27L/R; AND 8L/R; 26L/R. TWR SHOULD LISTEN ON FREQS THAT HE XMITS ON; AND SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE LACK OF READBACKS BEFORE HE CLRS AN ACFT FOR TKOF. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 542457: WHILE #3 FOR TKOF (1 AIRPLANE IN POS ON THE RWY) I ASKED THE CAPT IF WE SHOULD SWITCH TO TWR FREQ. WE WERE NOT GIVEN A TWR FREQ FROM GND CTL. I CONSULTED THE ATC PAGE OF MY APCH CHARTS AND FOUND 123.85 TO BE THE FREQ FOR RWY 27R. WE WERE UNABLE TO HEAR OTHER TFC ANSWER THE TWR; AND WE DISCUSSED THIS CONCERN WITH EACH OTHER. AT THIS TIME THE TWR CLRED US IN OPS ON RWY 27R; AND I ACKNOWLEDGED THE XMISSION WITH 'FLT NUMBER...CLRED INTO POS AND HOLD RWY 27R.' WE SHOULD HAVE CHKED WITH GND CTL FOR A TWR FREQ BEFORE TUNING IN THE FREQ LISTED ON THE CHART PAGE. WE SHOULD HAVE DOUBLE-CHKED THE FREQ WHEN WE HEARD ONLY THE TWR ON FREQ. THE GND CTLR SHOULD ISSUE A TWR FREQ WITHIN A TIMELY FASHION. IF THE TWR CTLR BELIEVES A CREW IS ON AN INCORRECT FREQ; HE SHOULD ALERT THE CREW IMMEDIATELY BEFORE ISSUING NEW CLRNCS. THE CREW SHOULD BE ALERT TO ALL CONVERSATIONS BTWN ALL ACFT AND ATC. CREWS SHOULD NOT DISMISS THE FEELING THAT 'SOMETHING MAY NOT BE QUITE RIGHT.'