MIL BE35 PLT HAS A PROB WITH ACFT SQUAWK CODES WITH PCT CTLR WHEN OPERATING IN AND OUT OF THE RADAR COVERAGE AREA SE OF BAL; MD.
Synopsis
MIL BE35 PLT HAS A PROB WITH ACFT SQUAWK CODES WITH PCT CTLR WHEN OPERATING IN AND OUT OF THE RADAR COVERAGE AREA SE OF BAL; MD.
Narrative
ON THE EVENING BEFORE THE DAY OF THIS EVENT; I HAD CALLED POTOMAC TRACON AND INFORMED THEM THAT ON THE NEXT DAY (MAY/SAT) THERE WOULD BE JOINT EXERCISES BEING CONDUCTED BY BOTH AIR AND SURFACE UNITS OF THE MIL CIVILIAN BRANCH OVER THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND WITHIN THE ADIZ; WITH AT LEAST 2 ACFT INVOLVED; WHICH WOULD BE FLYING AT LEVELS AS LOW AS 500 FT AGL. THIS SEEMED TO BE WELL UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED. ON THAT NEXT MORNING; I FILED AN ADIZ FLT PLAN FROM FDK TO W29 VIA FME AND ANP. THIS WAS FILED OVER THE USUAL WX BRIEFING SYS; AND I THINK (BUT NOT SURE) IT WAS FILED WITH ALTOONA FSS. THIS FLT PLAN WAS FILED FOR THIS ACFT; AS IS STANDARD FOR ACFT BEING FLOWN UNDER CIVILIAN MIL PATROLS OR TASKING. THIS FLT WAS UNDER MIL ORDER. IN THE REMARKS SECTION OF MY ADIZ FLT PLAN; I ASKED THAT IT BE NOTED THE ACFT WOULD NOT BE LNDG AT W29; BUT RATHER WOULD BE CONDUCTING JOINT AIR/SURFACE EXERCISES OVER THIS AREA OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY; WITHIN THE ADIZ. AGAIN; THIS SEEMED TO BE WELL UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED. I BEGAN MY FLT FROM FDK; CALLED POTOMAC TRACON; AND RECEIVED MY SQUAWK TO ENTER THE TRACON. TRAVERSING THE TRACON; AS PER FLT PLAN WAS EXECUTED WITHOUT DIFFICULTY; STAYING CLR OF CLASS B AS INSTRUCTED; AND CHANGING FREQ TO 119.7 AS INSTRUCTED BY ATC. ARRIVING OVER THE CHESAPEAKE BAY; WE BEGAN THE EXERCISES; CONTINUING TO MONITOR 119.7 AS WELL AS GUARD 121.5; WHILE AT THE SAME TIME COMMUNICATING WITH CIVILIAN MIL FACILITIES ON FM CHANNELS. 2 HRS LATER AFTER TKOF; ON 121.5; WE MONITORED A MESSAGE ESSENTIALLY CALLING ACFT SQUAWKING (OUR SQUAWK) AND INFORMING THAT THAT ACFT WAS IN THE ADIZ; AND TO EXIT IMMEDIATELY BY FLYING E; ETC. WE CALLED TRACON ON 119.7 AND THEY SENT US TO 126.75. WE RPTED THE MESSAGE WE HAD HEARD ON 121.5 AND BASICALLY ASKED WHAT WAS GOING ON. WE DISCUSSED THE SIT; AND AT FIRST ALL SEEMED WELL; BUT AFTER A MIN OR TWO; WE WERE INFORMED THAT WE WOULD NEED TO CALL ATC UPON LNDG. WE WERE GIVEN A NEW SQUAWK; BUT THEN BROKE OFF OUR PATROL EXERCISES; FLEW OUT OF THE ADIZ TO ESN; LANDED AND CALLED THE TRACON; ONLY TO BE INFORMED THAT THAT NUMBER WAS NOT IN SVC. FORTUNATELY; I HAD BALTIMORE TRACON NUMBERS ON MY FLT SHEET; CALLED TRACON AND WAS THEN TOLD TO CALL ATC'S NEWER NUMBER. THE WHOLE SIT WAS REVIEWED; AND I WAS TOLD THAT SINCE OUR SQUAWK HAD DISAPPEARED; THEY THOUGHT WE HAD LANDED OR GONE OUT OF THE AREA AND HAD ASSIGNED OUR SQUAWK TO SOMEONE ELSE. THEREFORE; WHEN WE 'RESURFACED' (CAME BACK UP TO AN ALT WHERE AT THAT RANGE OUR SQUAWK REAPPEARED ON THEIR RADAR); THEY HAD 2 SAME SQUAWKS; WHICH; OF COURSE; JUST WOULDN'T DO. HOWEVER; AT THE END OF THE CONVERSATION; IT APPEARED THAT THE MATTER HAD BEEN RECTIFIED. THEY ASKED AT LEAST A COUPLE OF TIMES IF WE HAD LANDED AT ANY TIME DURING OUR LOSS OF RADAR CONTACT; AND WE INFORMED THEM THAT ABSOLUTELY WE HAD NOT. WE THEN FILED A NEW ADIZ FLT PLAN ON THE GND AT ESN; TOOK OFF; OBTAINED A NEW ADIZ SQUAWK; RPTED IN TO THE CIVILIAN MIL CTLR (ACTIVITIES; BALTIMORE); AND RESUMED PARTICIPATION IN THE EXERCISES. IN RETROSPECT; THE INCIDENT COULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BY TAKING THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS (ALTHOUGH IF THE REMARKS ON MY FLT PLAN HAD BEEN HEEDED BY ATC; THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NO DIFFICULTY): I COULD HAVE RPTED TO ATC AT THE TIME I WAS BEGINNING MY EXERCISE ACTIVITIES AND THAT I WOULD PROBABLY AT TIMES BE BENEATH THEIR RADAR COVERAGE. ALSO; I COULD HAVE 'RESURFACED' (CLBED TO WHERE I WAS AGAIN IN THEIR RADAR COVERAGE) AND RPTED IN EVERY 15-30 MINS OR SO TO BE SURE THEY WERE STILL AWARE OF MY PRESENCE. (HOWEVER; WITH THE FREQS IN THE ADIZ ALREADY BEING VERY CROWDED; SUCH ADDITIONAL XMISSIONS POSE SOME DISADVANTAGE. FURTHER; IT WOULD HAVE CAUSED SOME DISRUPTION OF THE EXERCISES.) FINALLY; ON FILING MY ORIGINAL ADIZ FLT PLAN; I COULD HAVE INDICATED THE DURATION OF FLT AS 4 OR 5 HRS (THE TIME IT WAS EXPECTED TO BE THE MAX DURATION OF OUR EXERCISES); THOUGH IT TAKES LESS THAN 30 MINS TO GET FROM FDK TO W29. THIS MAY HAVE KEPT TRACON FROM TIMING OUT MY SQUAWK.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.