Narrative:

Upon landing in sjc; the tower advised that they would be closing within seconds and would we like our outbound clearance. After clearing the runways and completing the after landing duties; we took the clearance. In the same sentence (nearly); the controller announced that 'the sjc tower was now closed.' he did tell us that we would need to talk to departure control when we took off and that there were further instructions on the ATIS (there were not). The impression I had was that we were to depart and call norcal airborne. It was a very nice night; WX wise. Other company airplanes were departing and we could see everyone. We departed shortly after company and called norcal departure. He seemed surprised to hear from us and asked if we had a clearance; which we did. It took a moment before we realized he was talking about a departure release. He told us to get one in the future and continued our climb and departure. It has been yrs since I have departed from an airport with a closed tower. I didn't take the time to pull out the book and verify the procedure. Whenever something unusual occurs; I need to pull out the book and verify. The tower controller's instructions could have been a little more helpful. If he would have said; 'call departure control for a departure release; good night;' that would have helped to give us a better clue.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IFR ACR DEP FROM SJC; AFTER TWR CLOSED; FAILED TO OBTAIN DEP RELEASE PRIOR TO TKOF.

Narrative: UPON LNDG IN SJC; THE TWR ADVISED THAT THEY WOULD BE CLOSING WITHIN SECONDS AND WOULD WE LIKE OUR OUTBOUND CLRNC. AFTER CLRING THE RWYS AND COMPLETING THE AFTER LNDG DUTIES; WE TOOK THE CLRNC. IN THE SAME SENTENCE (NEARLY); THE CTLR ANNOUNCED THAT 'THE SJC TWR WAS NOW CLOSED.' HE DID TELL US THAT WE WOULD NEED TO TALK TO DEP CTL WHEN WE TOOK OFF AND THAT THERE WERE FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS ON THE ATIS (THERE WERE NOT). THE IMPRESSION I HAD WAS THAT WE WERE TO DEPART AND CALL NORCAL AIRBORNE. IT WAS A VERY NICE NIGHT; WX WISE. OTHER COMPANY AIRPLANES WERE DEPARTING AND WE COULD SEE EVERYONE. WE DEPARTED SHORTLY AFTER COMPANY AND CALLED NORCAL DEP. HE SEEMED SURPRISED TO HEAR FROM US AND ASKED IF WE HAD A CLRNC; WHICH WE DID. IT TOOK A MOMENT BEFORE WE REALIZED HE WAS TALKING ABOUT A DEP RELEASE. HE TOLD US TO GET ONE IN THE FUTURE AND CONTINUED OUR CLB AND DEP. IT HAS BEEN YRS SINCE I HAVE DEPARTED FROM AN ARPT WITH A CLOSED TWR. I DIDN'T TAKE THE TIME TO PULL OUT THE BOOK AND VERIFY THE PROC. WHENEVER SOMETHING UNUSUAL OCCURS; I NEED TO PULL OUT THE BOOK AND VERIFY. THE TWR CTLR'S INSTRUCTIONS COULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MORE HELPFUL. IF HE WOULD HAVE SAID; 'CALL DEP CTL FOR A DEP RELEASE; GOOD NIGHT;' THAT WOULD HAVE HELPED TO GIVE US A BETTER CLUE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 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.