A BE99 DEPARTED BUR WITHOUT TKOF CLRNC BECAUSE OF THE CAPT'S LOW ATC RADIO VOLUME AND THE FO FORGETTING THE CLRNC WAS POS AND HOLD.
Synopsis
A BE99 DEPARTED BUR WITHOUT TKOF CLRNC BECAUSE OF THE CAPT'S LOW ATC RADIO VOLUME AND THE FO FORGETTING THE CLRNC WAS POS AND HOLD.
Narrative
WHILE HOLDING SHORT OF RWY 8 FOR DEP; WE RECEIVED INSTRUCTIONS FROM TWR TO POS AND HOLD FOR RWY 8. I THOUGHT THAT MY FO HAD READ BACK POS AND HOLD. DUE TO THE 4 DIFFERENT VOLUME CTLS IN THE AIRPLANE I HAD BEEN HAVING DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING THE VOLUME SO THAT I COULD HEAR TWR CLRLY. AFTER COMPLETING RWY ITEMS CHKLIST; THE FO; WHO WAS THE PF FOR THIS LEG; STARTED TO TAKE OFF. I QUESTIONED HIM ABOUT OUR CLRNC AND HE STATED THAT WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT THE TWR TO VERIFY OUR CLRNC; THE FO HAD BEGUN ROLLING AND AS HE WAS SETTING PWR; DEVIATED R OF RWY CTRLINE. AFTER GAINING CTL AND RETURNING TO CTRLINE; I HEARD TWR CALL US. I ASKED TWR TO 'SAY AGAIN' AND TWR RESPONDED WITH 'DISREGARD' AND WE CONTINUED THE TKOF; ONLY TO LATER FIND OUT THAT WE DID NOT HAVE A TKOF CLRNC. THE FOLLOWING; I FEEL; ARE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS. FIRST I FAILED TO CLARIFY A DISAGREEMENT BTWN PF AND PNF BY ASKING ATC FOR VERIFICATION. SECOND; I ALLOWED THE FLT TO CONTINUE OUT OF THE RAMP WITHOUT RESOLVING A RADIO VOLUME PROB I WAS HAVING AND ASSUMED THAT MY FO HEARD HIS RADIO AND CLRNC CLRLY. THIRD; I WAS TEMPORARILY DISTR WITH THE INITIAL TKOF ROLL BY THE FO WHO WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY EARLY ON IN MAINTAINING DIRECTIONAL CTL. FOURTH; SINCE WE WERE EARLY IN OUR TKOF ROLL AND TWR QUESTIONED US; BUT LATER SAID DISREGARD; I FEEL IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CTLR TO TELL US TO ABORT WHICH WOULD HAVE BROKE THE CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT I HAD ALLOWED BUT COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED BY HIM. IN TALKING TO THE TWR SUPVR; IT WAS LATER DETERMINED THAT THE CTLR SAW ME ROLLING AND WAS NOT SURE IF HE HAD GIVEN ME CLRNC OR NOT WHICH RESULTED IN A LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ON BEHALF OF THE CTLR. IN CLOSING; I AM AT FAULT AND TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR NOT BEING MORE ASSERTIVE AND ALLOWING THE TKOF TO CONTINUE. IN THE FUTURE WHEN FACED WITH SIMILAR SITUATIONS; I WILL STOP ALL OPS UNTIL VERIFICATION IS RECEIVED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 682722: BUR TWR HANDED US OFF TO SOCAL DEP ON FREQ 135.05 WITHOUT FURTHER COMMENT. IT WASN'T UNTIL WE ARRIVED AND THEN DEPARTED THAT COMPANY CALLED US ENRTE TO OUR NEXT DEST AND SAID THAT BUR TWR WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH US A 'PLTDEV.' AFTER WE LANDED; WE CALLED TWR AND THEY INFORMED US THAT WE DEPARTED WITHOUT A CLRNC. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS AND CORRECTIONS: UPON REVIEWING THE CHAIN OF EVENTS; IT IS CLR THAT THERE WERE NUMEROUS FACTORS THAT LED TO THE PLTDEV. FIRST; BOTH THE CAPT AND MYSELF; WERE CONFIDENT WITH EACH OTHER'S PLTING ABILITIES AND ALLOWED OURSELVES TO BECOME COMPLACENT. THIS LED TO NOT VERIFYING WITH THE TWR THAT WE WERE IN FACT CLRED FOR TKOF. I MISTAKENLY WROTE DOWN THE DEP TIME AND DIDN'T QUESTION MYSELF WHEN THE CAPT ASKED IF WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. THE RADIO VOLUME ON OUR ACFT WAS NOT SET PROPERLY. IT TOOK THE CAPT 1/2 WAY TO DEST TO PROPERLY SET THE VOLUME AND SQUELCH. IT WAS LATER REVEALED THAT THE TRIM WAS SO FAR OUT OF ALIGNMENT THAT THE CAPT HAD CTRED IT ON THE 'ORIGINATING CHK' ASSUMING THE PREVIOUS PLT HAD NOT SET IT PROPERLY OR WAS ENGAGED IN A TRAINING FLT DOING SINGLE ENG APCHS AND HAD; THEREFORE; FORGOTTEN TO RESET THE TRIM AFTER LNDG. AS I APPLIED PWR AND DEVIATED SLIGHTLY FROM CTRLINE; I WAS ABLE TO CORRECT; BUT BOTH THE CAPT AND I WERE DISTR. BUR TWR HAD NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES TO 'STOP' OUR TKOF ROLL. ON THE INITIAL CALL-UP WHEN WE SAID 'SAY AGAIN' AND THEN WHEN THEY CALLED US AND SAID 'ACR X; UM; DISREGARD.' BOTH OF WHICH WOULD HAVE STOPPED US BEFORE WE CROSSED RWY 15/33 ON OUR TKOF ROLL. WE LATER FOUND OUT THAT THE BUR TWR CTLR COULDN'T RECALL IF A TKOF CLRNC HAD BEEN ISSUED AND THUS ALLOWED US TO TAKE OFF. THE CAPT AND MYSELF SHOULD HAVE ABORTED WHEN WE REALIZED THERE MIGHT BE SOME CONFUSION ON OUR TKOF. IN THE END; I ULTIMATELY STARTED A CHAIN OF EVENTS BY NOT QUESTIONING TWR ABOUT OUR TKOF CLRNC AND TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY LAPSE IN JUDGEMENT. THE CHAIN OF EVENTS COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED BY THE CAPT; THE CTLR OR MYSELF; HAD WE ALL USED BETTER JUDGEMENT. I HAVE LEARNED A FEW LESSONS FROM THIS INCIDENT AND TRULY BELIEVE IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.