A CE-560 flight crew; whose recollection was there was no Tower there; landed at GCK without a clearance.
Synopsis
A CE-560 flight crew; whose recollection was there was no Tower there; landed at GCK without a clearance.
Narrative
Because of weather in GCK we diverted. After weather lifted; passengers wanted us to reposition to GCK to pick him and two others up. With it being a 12 minute flight; and clear skies; we flew VFR to GCK. We went direct at 9;500. The copilot called the FBO to let them know we were arriving to pick up passengers and then put the UNICOM frequency in and continued to make the normal calls to alert aircraft of our presence in the traffic area.Upon landing we taxied to the FBO where ground personnel informed us the Tower would like to talk to us. I realized at that point that we had potentially landed without notifying Tower. The gentleman in the Tower proceeded to tell me that we; in fact; did land without talking to him and that it was the seventh time that this has happened in the last year. He then said that he HAD to do paperwork on me.He took my information down and then asked me what I think they should do to prevent this in the future. I asked him if they monitor UNICOM in the Tower and he said NO. I said if this happens a lot maybe they should. Weather diversions and not going to the intended destination started the day off bad. Going VFR; when we ALWAYS file IFR; thus getting the proper hand offs from Center to Approach and Tower frequencies is the only way to go. I will not go VFR again; no matter how short it is. Getting away from the norm is when bad things happen.
Second reporter narrative
The PIC had elected to go VFR since it was only about a 50 NM flight to GCK and he stated he knew GCK airport very well and didn't need to file an IFR flight plan.As we approached the airport from the south; I asked the PIC if there was a Tower frequency associated with the airport and he replied there was not as he had flown into GCK for years and always made his traffic reports on UNICOM and gave me the frequency to call as we prepared for landing.I feel there was a breakdown in CRM in that I was talked into not being more assertive with the PIC about there being a Control Tower at the airport. I just blindly accepted his explanation that he was highly experienced into and out of this airport and that he had never had to call the Tower for landing clearance. I shall NEVER let this happen to me again and will; in the future; check all applicable onboard documents when it comes to resolving any questions I might have and not relying on the past knowledge of anybody who says he/she has no need to check based on past assumptions or experiences.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.