Narrative:

On the morning of jul/fri/02, I was en route to awo airport to participate in a fly-in. Upon arrival, I followed published arrival procedures for that day which instructed me to fly over another airport about 4 mi to the south of arlington, identify myself by color and type only, then wait for clearance to proceed inbound to the airport. When I received clearance to proceed inbound, I was instructed to follow several aircraft also inbound for landing, one of which was an aircraft about 2 mi ahead of us. Once over the town of arlington, I switched to the tower frequency as instructed. By this time I saw that I was now closing on the aircraft and would not be able to maintain separation once in the pattern. I called the tower and was told to pass the aircraft on the left while entering right downwind for landing on runway 35. Up to this point, I was identing myself as a beechcraft flight queen air. Queer air had been acknowledged as such by both approach and the tower. While on the downwind and about abeam of the aircraft, the tower instructed a twin bonanza to turn base inside of the aircraft for landing. After a long silence, I figured that the tower was probably calling our aircraft, and I asked them if the call was meant for us. The tower immediately corrected his mistake and repeated his instructions. By now, I had passed the aircraft and could not turn inside of him, so the tower had the aircraft turn base and told us to follow him for landing. I extended as far as possible, then turned base to see the aircraft on about a 1/2 mi final. When I turned final, I had about 1/2 mi between the aircraft and myself. Once this happened, the aircraft slowed to about 60 KTS and the distance between us began to decrease (my minimum speed on approach was about 110 KTS) and once again I saw that separation could not be maintained. I called the tower and told them that I could not land behind the aircraft and that I would overrun him soon. The tower then instructed the aircraft to land short and for me to overfly the aircraft and land long. I told the tower that this was totally unacceptable and that I would not do it. After a few seconds of silence, the tower said 'put your wheels down and land now.' at this point, I was about 700 ft above the approach end of the runway and could not have made the runway at all. I called the tower and told them that I was initiating a go around. Upon hearing this, the tower said to depart the pattern, go back (against oncoming traffic) to the initial reporting point, climb to 3000 ft and wait 'until I get back to you later.' I informed the tower that I did not want to do this because I would be low on fuel if I had to hold for an extended period of time. The tower came back and said that I was cleared to land on runway 35. Somewhere along the line, the tower interpreted this to mean that I was out of fuel and was declaring an emergency, although no mention of this was ever made by myself or confirmed by the tower. After landing and going to parking, I was met by an FAA representative and asked how much fuel was on board. I told him that I had more than 45 mins reserve left. Upon hearing this, he said that I had declared an emergency, when in fact there was none.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A QUEEN AIR ATP PLT IS CONFUSED BY THE TFC SIT AND THE CLRNCS ISSUED BY THE TWR CTLR FOR A FLY IN AIRSHOW AT AWO, VA.

Narrative: ON THE MORNING OF JUL/FRI/02, I WAS ENRTE TO AWO ARPT TO PARTICIPATE IN A FLY-IN. UPON ARR, I FOLLOWED PUBLISHED ARR PROCS FOR THAT DAY WHICH INSTRUCTED ME TO FLY OVER ANOTHER ARPT ABOUT 4 MI TO THE S OF ARLINGTON, IDENT MYSELF BY COLOR AND TYPE ONLY, THEN WAIT FOR CLRNC TO PROCEED INBOUND TO THE ARPT. WHEN I RECEIVED CLRNC TO PROCEED INBOUND, I WAS INSTRUCTED TO FOLLOW SEVERAL ACFT ALSO INBOUND FOR LNDG, ONE OF WHICH WAS AN ACFT ABOUT 2 MI AHEAD OF US. ONCE OVER THE TOWN OF ARLINGTON, I SWITCHED TO THE TWR FREQ AS INSTRUCTED. BY THIS TIME I SAW THAT I WAS NOW CLOSING ON THE ACFT AND WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN SEPARATION ONCE IN THE PATTERN. I CALLED THE TWR AND WAS TOLD TO PASS THE ACFT ON THE L WHILE ENTERING R DOWNWIND FOR LNDG ON RWY 35. UP TO THIS POINT, I WAS IDENTING MYSELF AS A BEECHCRAFT FLT QUEEN AIR. QUEER AIR HAD BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED AS SUCH BY BOTH APCH AND THE TWR. WHILE ON THE DOWNWIND AND ABOUT ABEAM OF THE ACFT, THE TWR INSTRUCTED A TWIN BONANZA TO TURN BASE INSIDE OF THE ACFT FOR LNDG. AFTER A LONG SILENCE, I FIGURED THAT THE TWR WAS PROBABLY CALLING OUR ACFT, AND I ASKED THEM IF THE CALL WAS MEANT FOR US. THE TWR IMMEDIATELY CORRECTED HIS MISTAKE AND REPEATED HIS INSTRUCTIONS. BY NOW, I HAD PASSED THE ACFT AND COULD NOT TURN INSIDE OF HIM, SO THE TWR HAD THE ACFT TURN BASE AND TOLD US TO FOLLOW HIM FOR LNDG. I EXTENDED AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, THEN TURNED BASE TO SEE THE ACFT ON ABOUT A 1/2 MI FINAL. WHEN I TURNED FINAL, I HAD ABOUT 1/2 MI BTWN THE ACFT AND MYSELF. ONCE THIS HAPPENED, THE ACFT SLOWED TO ABOUT 60 KTS AND THE DISTANCE BTWN US BEGAN TO DECREASE (MY MINIMUM SPD ON APCH WAS ABOUT 110 KTS) AND ONCE AGAIN I SAW THAT SEPARATION COULD NOT BE MAINTAINED. I CALLED THE TWR AND TOLD THEM THAT I COULD NOT LAND BEHIND THE ACFT AND THAT I WOULD OVERRUN HIM SOON. THE TWR THEN INSTRUCTED THE ACFT TO LAND SHORT AND FOR ME TO OVERFLY THE ACFT AND LAND LONG. I TOLD THE TWR THAT THIS WAS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND THAT I WOULD NOT DO IT. AFTER A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE, THE TWR SAID 'PUT YOUR WHEELS DOWN AND LAND NOW.' AT THIS POINT, I WAS ABOUT 700 FT ABOVE THE APCH END OF THE RWY AND COULD NOT HAVE MADE THE RWY AT ALL. I CALLED THE TWR AND TOLD THEM THAT I WAS INITIATING A GAR. UPON HEARING THIS, THE TWR SAID TO DEPART THE PATTERN, GO BACK (AGAINST ONCOMING TFC) TO THE INITIAL RPTING POINT, CLB TO 3000 FT AND WAIT 'UNTIL I GET BACK TO YOU LATER.' I INFORMED THE TWR THAT I DID NOT WANT TO DO THIS BECAUSE I WOULD BE LOW ON FUEL IF I HAD TO HOLD FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. THE TWR CAME BACK AND SAID THAT I WAS CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 35. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, THE TWR INTERPED THIS TO MEAN THAT I WAS OUT OF FUEL AND WAS DECLARING AN EMER, ALTHOUGH NO MENTION OF THIS WAS EVER MADE BY MYSELF OR CONFIRMED BY THE TWR. AFTER LNDG AND GOING TO PARKING, I WAS MET BY AN FAA REPRESENTATIVE AND ASKED HOW MUCH FUEL WAS ON BOARD. I TOLD HIM THAT I HAD MORE THAN 45 MINS RESERVE LEFT. UPON HEARING THIS, HE SAID THAT I HAD DECLARED AN EMER, WHEN IN FACT THERE WAS NONE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.