HELI PLT EXPRESSED FRUSTRATION REGARDING ZZZ'S HANDLING OF HIS FLT IN THE ADIZ.

Date: 2004-03 · Aircraft: Helicopter · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: airspace-violation-all-types|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

HELI PLT EXPRESSED FRUSTRATION REGARDING ZZZ'S HANDLING OF HIS FLT IN THE ADIZ.

Narrative

WHILE TRANSPORTING A MEDICAL PATIENT TO A HOSPITAL I HAD TO GO THROUGH THE ADIZ. WE HAVE A DISCRETE SQUAWK FOR OUR MEDICAL HELI ASSIGNED TO US BY APCH TO USE ON OUR LIFEGUARD MISSIONS. I USED THIS SQUAWK FOR THE FLT THROUGH THE ADIZ AS APPROVED IN OUR LOA. WITH CLRNC INTO THE ADIZ I WAS PROCEEDING AS REQUESTED BY ATC. WHEN I CHANGED TO THE NEXT FREQ AND MADE THE CALL; I WAS TOLD TO USE A DIFFERENT FREQ. WHEN I FINALLY DID GET SOMEONE; THEY WOULD WANT TO KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING. BECAUSE OF THE HVY RADIO TFC; BY THE TIME I COULD GET THROUGH TO EXPLAIN; I WAS TOLD THAT I SHOULD BE TALKING TO SOMEONE ELSE OR SHOULD HAVE CALLED SOMEONE ELSE. BEING SINGLE PLT NAVING; WATCHING FOR OTHER ACFT (THIS IS A HIGH TFC AREA); AND TALKING ON A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT RADIOS AT THE SAME TIME CAN BE DIFFICULT. I HAD A SIMILAR PROB WHEN DEPARTING FOR HOME BASE AFTER REFUELING. THIS TIME I FILED WITH FSS AND GOT DETAILED INFO ON DEPARTING THE AREA. WHEN I CALLED TO GET MY CLRNC AND SQUAWK THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT TAIL NUMBER. I GOT THAT CORRECTED AND WAS ASSIGNED A SQUAWK. I TOOK OFF AND STAYED IN THE DEP ARPT AREA UNTIL I HAD ESTABLISHED RADAR IDENT WITH THE ASSIGNED SQUAWK. THEN I HAD TO TELL THEM TWICE THE RTE OF MY FLT PLAN AND AGAIN THE FREQ I WAS GIVEN WAS NOT THE ONE I NEEDED TO BE ON. THIS TIME I HAD ONE OF THE CREW UP FRONT WITH ME COPYING THE INFO FROM ATC AND COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY WERE GIVING THE WRONG FREQS. I HAVE DONE A DETAILED STUDY OF THE INFO ON OPS IN THE ADIZ AND NOW FEEL I WILL BE BETTER INFORMED AS TO HOW TO CONFRONT THIS 'ATC FROM HELL' (AS QUOTED BY ONE OF MY MEDICAL CREW).

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.