BONANZA PLT WAS LEAD ACFT IN FLIGHT OF TWO AND RECEIVED CLRNC INTO CLASS B AIRSPACE. TRAILING ACFT; PIPER ARROW; FELL 10 MILES BEHIND AND LOST COM WITH BOTH ATC AND LEAD ACFT.
Synopsis
BONANZA PLT WAS LEAD ACFT IN FLIGHT OF TWO AND RECEIVED CLRNC INTO CLASS B AIRSPACE. TRAILING ACFT; PIPER ARROW; FELL 10 MILES BEHIND AND LOST COM WITH BOTH ATC AND LEAD ACFT.
Narrative
I CONTACTED TRACON REQUESTING CLASS B CLRNC AND THAT WE WERE FLT OF TWO. TRACON ADVISED THAT WE HAD CLRNC TO ENTER CLASS B AT 5500 FT DIRECT FRESNO. AS A FLT OF 2 WE DID A GND BRIEFING BEFORE DEP. THE SECOND ACFT WAS SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW IN TRAIL APPROX 1 MI AND WAS TO MONITOR THE SAME FREQ LEAD ACFT WAS ON. BACKUP FREQ WAS GIVEN IN THE EVENT OF LOSS RADIO COM. WITHIN APPROX 5 MINS I RECEIVED A CALL FROM TRACON STATING THE SECOND ACFT WAS 2 MI BEHIND. THE NEXT CALL FROM TRACON REQUESTED THAT I CONTACT HIM AND TELL HIM TO SQUAWK 1200 AND THEN STATED THAT THE SECOND ACFT ENTERED IN THE WRONG XPONDER CODE. I TRIED TO CONTACT THE SECOND ACFT BUT NO RESPONSE; I THEN TRIED BACKUP FREQ WITH STILL NO RESPONSE. TRACON THEN CONTACTED ME AGAIN STATING THAT THE ACFT WAS NOW 10 MI IN TRAIL. TRACON THEN GAVE ME A HDOF TO THE NEW CTLR WHO ASKED ME IF I WAS IN COM WITH THE NEXT ACFT. I ADVISED THE CTLR THAT I LOST COM WITH THE SECOND ACFT. TRACON ASKED ME TO CONTACT THEIR OFFICE BY PHONE AFTER LNDG. THE CTLR STATED WE DID IN FACT HAVE CLRNC TO ENTER CLASS B BUT HE DID NOT HAVE POSITIVE CONTACT WITH THE SECOND ACFT IN TRAIL AND CAUSED 10 MINS OF CONFUSION. HE FURTHER STATED THIS WOULD NOT BE FILED AGAINST US. THE TRACON SUPVR WANTED THE CTLR TO CONTACT US AND NOTIFY ACCORDINGLY. CTLR STATED PLEASE DON'T LET THIS DISCOURAGE US FROM DOING FLTS OF TWO AS HE IS A PLT HIMSELF AND DOES DO FLTS OF TWO FREQUENTLY HIMSELF AND FELT THAT TRACON WAS PARTLY IN THE WRONG TOO FOR NOT POSITIVELY IDENTIFYING THE SECOND ACFT. IN RETROSPECT; BEFORE WE EMBARKED ON THIS FLT OF TWO; WE DID A SAFETY BRIEFING BUT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH: I WAS LEAD; HE WAS TRAIL. KEEP APPROX 1 MI DISTANCE. MAINTAIN SAME AIRSPD; ALT; SAME FREQ ALONG WITH BACKUP FREQ AND DIRECTION OF FLT. CHANGE ALT; SPD OR DIRECTION PER FLT DIRECTION GIVEN FROM CTLRS OR AS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN SAFE FLT AT ALL TIMES. ALTHOUGH SECOND ACFT'S RADIO APPEARED TO BE OPERATING CORRECTLY; DURING THE COURSE OF CONFUSION THE RADIO CALLS FROM TRACON AND LEAD ACFT WERE SIMPLY MISSED. HUMAN ERROR; NO FURTHER FLTS OF TWO WILL BE MADE BY THIS PLT UNTIL GREATER INFO KNOWLEDGE OF INFO IS REQUIRED.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.