Narrative:

After finishing my run-up procedure and taxiing to the hold short bars to the runway I called up tower and notified them I was ready for departure. Tower instructed me to hold short for landing traffic; which I read back and complied with. The frequency seemed busier than normal so I made sure to keep my radio verbiage concise and minimal so as not to clutter an already busy frequency.a few moments later the traffic had landed and I expected to hear a call from tower telling me I was cleared for takeoff. A couple minutes had passed and this being a busy airport; a sizeable line of 5 or 6 aircraft had lined up behind me all waiting for their turn. I thought it was odd that I would be holding short for so long but figured there must still be some traffic landing and sure enough; as if to confirm my thoughts; another aircraft landed. The lineup of aircraft behind me grew larger and larger.now; absolutely certain that I would be getting takeoff clearance any second I took one last glance at my checklist to double check that I was good to go. Then out of the corner of my eye I see another cessna trying to squeeze between my aircraft and edge of the taxiway from behind. The passenger in the other aircraft was gesturing wildly and seemingly pointing to their own headset trying to get my attention.at that moment I turned my head further to the right and all of the sudden my headset came alive with the loud sound of radio chatter. The tower was instructing aircraft to try and fit between myself and the edge of the taxiway. At that moment I realized there was something wrong with my radio. I keyed up my mike; asked for a radio check; and then coordinated with tower to do a 180 on the taxiway so as to move back into the run-up area and let the now long line of aircraft pass by me. Sitting in the run-up I started troubleshooting my radio and couldn't find a single thing wrong. Then; I moved my knee to rest against the center panel where the trim wheel and radio jacks were. All of the sudden my radio went silent again. My knee had moved the plastic panel in such a way as to push my headset plugs slightly out of their jacks. Relieved that the problem was a simple fix; I tightened the headset jacks; called up tower and advised that I had sorted out my radio problem and was ready to go. Tower subsequently cleared me for takeoff and I read back the clearance and thanked them for their patience. While being NORDO holding short of the runway I had missed a handful of clearances from the tower. Other pilots had advised me later that I missed a 'line up and wait' instruction as well as numerous attempts to get my attention. Going forward I will be cautious of an eerily silent radio frequency especially at a towered airport and will double check my radio and headset connections. I will also try to maintain better situational awareness; as I'm sure there must have been more clues to inform me of my communication issues.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C152 pilot reported communication problems with the tower while holding for takeoff.

Narrative: After finishing my run-up procedure and taxiing to the hold short bars to the runway I called up tower and notified them I was ready for departure. Tower instructed me to hold short for landing traffic; which I read back and complied with. The frequency seemed busier than normal so I made sure to keep my radio verbiage concise and minimal so as not to clutter an already busy frequency.A few moments later the traffic had landed and I expected to hear a call from tower telling me I was cleared for takeoff. A couple minutes had passed and this being a busy airport; a sizeable line of 5 or 6 aircraft had lined up behind me all waiting for their turn. I thought it was odd that I would be holding short for so long but figured there must still be some traffic landing and sure enough; as if to confirm my thoughts; another aircraft landed. The lineup of aircraft behind me grew larger and larger.Now; absolutely certain that I would be getting takeoff clearance any second I took one last glance at my checklist to double check that I was good to go. Then out of the corner of my eye I see another Cessna trying to squeeze between my aircraft and edge of the taxiway from behind. The passenger in the other aircraft was gesturing wildly and seemingly pointing to their own headset trying to get my attention.At that moment I turned my head further to the right and all of the sudden my headset came alive with the loud sound of radio chatter. The tower was instructing aircraft to try and fit between myself and the edge of the taxiway. At that moment I realized there was something wrong with my radio. I keyed up my mike; asked for a radio check; and then coordinated with tower to do a 180 on the taxiway so as to move back into the run-up area and let the now long line of aircraft pass by me. Sitting in the run-up I started troubleshooting my radio and couldn't find a single thing wrong. Then; I moved my knee to rest against the center panel where the trim wheel and radio jacks were. All of the sudden my radio went silent again. My knee had moved the plastic panel in such a way as to push my headset plugs slightly out of their jacks. Relieved that the problem was a simple fix; I tightened the headset jacks; called up tower and advised that I had sorted out my radio problem and was ready to go. Tower subsequently cleared me for takeoff and I read back the clearance and thanked them for their patience. While being NORDO holding short of the runway I had missed a handful of clearances from the tower. Other pilots had advised me later that I missed a 'line up and wait' instruction as well as numerous attempts to get my attention. Going forward I will be cautious of an eerily silent radio frequency especially at a towered airport and will double check my radio and headset connections. I will also try to maintain better situational awareness; as I'm sure there must have been more clues to inform me of my communication issues.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.