AN OVER-ZEALOUS UNICOM OPERATOR WAS CREATING A HAZARDOUS CONDITION WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACT AS AN AIR TFC CTLR AT A NON TWRED ARPT AT X59; FL.
Synopsis
AN OVER-ZEALOUS UNICOM OPERATOR WAS CREATING A HAZARDOUS CONDITION WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACT AS AN AIR TFC CTLR AT A NON TWRED ARPT AT X59; FL.
Narrative
THE EVENT/SIT OCCURRED AT THE VALKARIA; FL ARPT (X59) DURING THE HRS NEAR NOON. I FLEW MY FIRST FLT OF THE DAY; AND WAS ON MY SECOND FLT WHEN THE UNICOM OPERATOR CAME ON DUTY. HE IMMEDIATELY STARTED TALKING ON THE RADIO GIVING UNSOLICITED ADVICE; SUCH AS 'RWY IS CLR AND IT'S ALL YOURS.' I HAD NOT ASKED FOR ANY INFO ABOUT RWY OR ANYTHING ELSE. I HAD ANNOUNCED THAT I WAS BACK TAXIING RWY 14 FOR IMMEDIATE TKOF ON RWY 14. DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL FLTS THIS UNICOM OPERATOR CONTINUED TO PASS OUT UNSOLICITED ADVICE TO ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY. HE WAS TRYING TO PLAY ACFT CTLR BY TELLING 'ACFT ON DOWNWIND;' 'ACFT ON FINAL' AND ON AND ON. IN ONE CASE THERE WERE 3 ACFT IN THE TFC PATTERN. I WAS ONE OF THEM; AND 4 ACFT DOING A FLYBY AT 1000 FT OVER RWY 14. THE UNICOM OPERATOR WAS TELLING THEM ABOUT NOISE ABATEMENT OVER THE HOUSES E OF THE ARPT. AT THAT POINT I TOLD HIM 'MR X; YOU ARE MESSING THINGS UP.' I DON'T KNOW IF THAT IS WHY HE FINALLY SLOWED DOWN BUT I DIDN'T HEAR MUCH FROM HIM AFTER THAT. I THINK SOMEONE ELSE MAY HAVE TALKED TO HIM ALSO. THIS MAN HAS BEEN TALKED TO BEFORE AT THIS ARPT ABOUT TRYING TO PLAY ACFT CTLR BUT HE CONTINUES TO DO SO. IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY I THINK THIS MAN SHOULD BE GONE FROM THE ARPT BEFORE HE CAUSES SOMEONE TO GET HURT. THIS MAN IS BAD NEWS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 594990: THE COUNTY OFFICIAL ON DUTY AT X59; VALKARIA ARPT; MR X; WAS OFFERING UNSOLICITED ADVICE TO ACFT IN THE PATTERN; WAS STEPPING ON ACFT GIVING THEIR POS RPTS. MR X'S XMISSIONS WERE DIRECTLY INTERFERING WITH THE ORDERLY FLOW OF ACFT IN THE VOLUNTEER OP. I HAVE SUGGESTED THAT VALKARIA UNICOM REMAIN SILENT WITH 2 EXCEPTIONS: 1) IF REQUESTED FOR ARPT ADVISORIES OR 2) TO ALERT ACFT OF IMPENDING DISASTER. THIS IS A NON-TWRED ARPT AND THE UNICOM SHOULD NOT BE USED AS AN ATC MEDIUM.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.