Narrative:

While on an ambulance flight; I requested and was granted a clearance for transition though an active restricted area. A squawk code was assigned and placed in the transponder with requested oncourse heading provided to the controlling agency. I continued monitoring the required frequency. After a short time it was clear that neither the crew nor I had dealt with the local fire and EMS handling the call of which we were heading. In addition; the radio frequencies for ground contact were not in our aircraft. After asking the requesting agency to use a common frequency. We were told they were unable. At this time I had a phone patch established with the county dispatch and had landing zone and patient information relayed to us from the scene. This required quite a few transmissions on other radios in the aircraft with all the chatter that comes with these actions. As we approached class D airspace next to the special use; I informed the controlling agency that I needed to change frequencies to tower. At this time; I was told that they had tried to call me and I did not respond. I informed them I did not hear a transmission and if there was an issue. The operator stated I had flown over or near ranges that had not confirmed 'checked fire'. I apologized for any problems; but it was my understanding that I had received clearance though the airspace and if there was going to be a problem; I would have just flown around the restricted area. I phoned the controlling agency the next day to clear up the issue and learned that a clearance may require some time for the agency to make the necessary radio and phone contact to shut ranges down. An aircraft can rapidly approach those areas faster than they can go cold. In essence; a clearance in itself is not the same as a normal clearance in aviation and may be evolving only as fast as separate ranges are contacted. Although I rarely ever ask to pass though these areas; it is important to remember events on the ground often do not occur at the same rate as events in the air. Radio discipline to anticipate the potential time needed to shutdown activity along the flight path needs to be taken into account. Although a clearance in normal aviation is just that; special use airspace has special events that need to be taken into account even with a clearance.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Bell-206 pilot monitoring transmissions related to a medical mission; missed an ATC advisory regarding range activity in a Restricted Area through which the pilot had previously been cleared.

Narrative: While on an ambulance flight; I requested and was granted a clearance for transition though an active restricted area. A squawk code was assigned and placed in the transponder with requested oncourse heading provided to the Controlling Agency. I continued monitoring the required frequency. After a short time it was clear that neither the crew nor I had dealt with the local Fire and EMS handling the call of which we were heading. In addition; the radio frequencies for ground contact were not in our aircraft. After asking the requesting agency to use a common frequency. We were told they were unable. At this time I had a phone patch established with the County Dispatch and had landing zone and patient information relayed to us from the scene. This required quite a few transmissions on other radios in the aircraft with all the chatter that comes with these actions. As we approached Class D airspace next to the special use; I informed the Controlling Agency that I needed to change frequencies to Tower. At this time; I was told that they had tried to call me and I did not respond. I informed them I did not hear a transmission and if there was an issue. The operator stated I had flown over or near ranges that had not confirmed 'checked fire'. I apologized for any problems; but it was my understanding that I had received clearance though the airspace and if there was going to be a problem; I would have just flown around the restricted area. I phoned the Controlling Agency the next day to clear up the issue and learned that a clearance may require some time for the agency to make the necessary radio and phone contact to shut ranges down. An aircraft can rapidly approach those areas faster than they can go cold. In essence; a clearance in itself is not the same as a normal clearance in aviation and may be evolving only as fast as separate ranges are contacted. Although I rarely ever ask to pass though these areas; it is important to remember events on the ground often do not occur at the same rate as events in the air. Radio discipline to anticipate the potential time needed to shutdown activity along the flight path needs to be taken into account. Although a clearance in normal aviation is just that; Special Use Airspace has special events that need to be taken into account even with a clearance.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.