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Small aircraft aircraft on VOR/DME/south approach to saf alleged ATC lost track of aircraft position resulting in aborted approach and questioned controller performance.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 747365 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200702 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : saf.airport |
| State Reference | NM |
| Altitude | msl single value : 8300 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | tower : saf.tower |
| Operator | general aviation : personal |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | descent : approach |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | other |
| Function | flight crew : single pilot |
| Qualification | pilot : instrument pilot : private |
| Experience | flight time last 90 days : 60 flight time total : 730 flight time type : 730 |
| ASRS Report | 747365 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | other |
| Function | controller : local |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other flight crewa |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : anomaly accepted |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | ATC Human Performance |
| Primary Problem | ATC Human Performance |
Narrative:
While flying a VOR-DME/a practice approach at the santa flight engineer new mexico airport; tower lost track of where we were. Tower advised us to report mitum inbound. We had already made the mitum inbound report and were already past mitum inbound. Because of his incessant chatter; we were unable to re-establish communications with tower again. We were forced to abort the practice approach to the west and exited the airspace. In our judgement; to continue would have been unsafe. At the time we overheard tower requesting another airplane to call the tower phone number. Tower was complaining that the other airplane did not make required check-INS. It is frequently impossible to make required check-INS because tower is overly verbose and too repetitious. As a result; tower cannot handle as many as 4 airplanes in the pattern safely. Any of the other controllers can easily handle 7 or 8 aircraft in the pattern.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: SMA ACFT ON VOR/DME/S APCH TO SAF ALLEGED ATC LOST TRACK OF ACFT POS RESULTING IN ABORTED APCH AND QUESTIONED CTLR PERFORMANCE.
Narrative: WHILE FLYING A VOR-DME/A PRACTICE APCH AT THE SANTA FE NEW MEXICO ARPT; TWR LOST TRACK OF WHERE WE WERE. TWR ADVISED US TO RPT MITUM INBOUND. WE HAD ALREADY MADE THE MITUM INBOUND RPT AND WERE ALREADY PAST MITUM INBOUND. BECAUSE OF HIS INCESSANT CHATTER; WE WERE UNABLE TO RE-ESTABLISH COMS WITH TWR AGAIN. WE WERE FORCED TO ABORT THE PRACTICE APCH TO THE W AND EXITED THE AIRSPACE. IN OUR JUDGEMENT; TO CONTINUE WOULD HAVE BEEN UNSAFE. AT THE TIME WE OVERHEARD TWR REQUESTING ANOTHER AIRPLANE TO CALL THE TWR PHONE NUMBER. TWR WAS COMPLAINING THAT THE OTHER AIRPLANE DID NOT MAKE REQUIRED CHK-INS. IT IS FREQUENTLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE REQUIRED CHK-INS BECAUSE TWR IS OVERLY VERBOSE AND TOO REPETITIOUS. AS A RESULT; TWR CANNOT HANDLE AS MANY AS 4 AIRPLANES IN THE PATTERN SAFELY. ANY OF THE OTHER CTLRS CAN EASILY HANDLE 7 OR 8 ACFT IN THE PATTERN.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.