Narrative:

This was a full flight with a jumpseater in the cockpit. The flight was completely routine until arriving at jfk. The weather was excellent as we approached the new york area. We flew the lendy 5 arrival into new york airspace with no complications. Sterile cockpit was strictly observed during the arrival. If fact; sterile cockpit had effectively started earlier than normal due to the high altitude in which we entered the new york airspace. All non critical conversation had ended by the time we reached lendy at 19;000 ft. Based on the ATIS we expected to get vectors to the VOR runway 13L approach. We complied with ATC instructions in the decent down to 3;000 ft; at which time we were south of the canarsie VOR; and the aircraft was generally headed north. Approach asked us if we had the preceding 757 in sight. I asked the captain if he saw the aircraft. We both agreed that we were looking at the correct aircraft; and I reported to approach that the aircraft was in sight. Approach then cleared us for the visual to runway 13L. The captain said the we would continue to fly the approach as if we were flying the VOR approach. That made sense so that we would keep appropriate ground track and altitudes on the approach. We carefully watched our speed; ground track; and altitudes while ensuring an adequate separation between us and the 757 we were following. Once we touched down I asked what I thought was tower where they would like us to exit; and that was when we realized that we not handed off to the tower. Approach told us that we were on their frequency. I then contacted tower; who said they had been trying to get in contact with us. Tower instructed us to go to the ground frequency. Once I checked in with ground; we were issued instructions to taxi to the gate. I asked if we need to call anyone; and ground said that would not be necessary. Once at the gate; we discussed what happened; and none of us can remember approach handing us off to the tower. As a technique; I will only turn on the nose light when we have been cleared to land. When I checked this after landing I saw that it was still off; further re-enforcing the belief that we were not handed off to tower. Nevertheless; it is still our responsibility to let approach know if they have forgotten to hand us off. Even though this ended up being a visual approach; the workload is much higher than a normal visual approach. We were busy following the guidance provided by the VOR runway 13L approach; keeping our separation from the 757; and I was trying not to forget the 500 ft call. I think that we simply got overly focused on the approach. As the pilot monitoring; I am primarily responsible for communications. I have used the nose light technique for landing in the past; and it has alerted me more than once that approach control has forgotten to hand us off to tower. In this case however; at 500 ft the aircraft is turning on to final and I simply did not check. This is a very frustrating mistake. The captain said as a technique he usually checks for 'three green and cleared to land' prior to touchdown; but simply didn't think about it prior to touchdown. Although I can't say with absolute certainty that approach control did not had us off; that is our belief. If they did; I simply forgot to switch over. If not; I should have caught the mistake; and asked for the hand off. Ether way; communication should have been more of a priority.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ Flight Crew landing JFK does not contact the Tower prior to landing Runway 13L after a visual approach.

Narrative: This was a full flight with a jumpseater in the cockpit. The flight was completely routine until arriving at JFK. The weather was excellent as we approached the New York area. We flew the LENDY 5 Arrival into New York airspace with no complications. Sterile cockpit was strictly observed during the arrival. If fact; sterile cockpit had effectively started earlier than normal due to the high altitude in which we entered the New York airspace. All non critical conversation had ended by the time we reached LENDY at 19;000 FT. Based on the ATIS we expected to get vectors to the VOR Runway 13L approach. We complied with ATC instructions in the decent down to 3;000 FT; at which time we were south of the Canarsie VOR; and the aircraft was generally headed north. Approach asked us if we had the preceding 757 in sight. I asked the Captain if he saw the aircraft. We both agreed that we were looking at the correct aircraft; and I reported to approach that the aircraft was in sight. Approach then cleared us for the visual to Runway 13L. The Captain said the we would continue to fly the approach as if we were flying the VOR approach. That made sense so that we would keep appropriate ground track and altitudes on the approach. We carefully watched our speed; ground track; and altitudes while ensuring an adequate separation between us and the 757 we were following. Once we touched down I asked what I thought was Tower where they would like us to exit; and that was when we realized that we not handed off to the Tower. Approach told us that we were on their frequency. I then contacted Tower; who said they had been trying to get in contact with us. Tower instructed us to go to the Ground frequency. Once I checked in with Ground; we were issued instructions to taxi to the gate. I asked if we need to call anyone; and Ground said that would not be necessary. Once at the gate; we discussed what happened; and none of us can remember approach handing us off to the Tower. As a technique; I will only turn on the nose light when we have been cleared to land. When I checked this after landing I saw that it was still off; further re-enforcing the belief that we were not handed off to Tower. Nevertheless; it is still our responsibility to let approach know if they have forgotten to hand us off. Even though this ended up being a visual approach; the workload is much higher than a normal visual approach. We were busy following the guidance provided by the VOR Runway 13L approach; keeping our separation from the 757; and I was trying not to forget the 500 FT call. I think that we simply got overly focused on the approach. As the Pilot Monitoring; I am primarily responsible for communications. I have used the nose light technique for landing in the past; and it has alerted me more than once that Approach Control has forgotten to hand us off to Tower. In this case however; at 500 FT the aircraft is turning on to final and I simply did not check. This is a very frustrating mistake. The Captain said as a technique he usually checks for 'three green and cleared to land' prior to touchdown; but simply didn't think about it prior to touchdown. Although I can't say with absolute certainty that Approach Control did not had us off; that is our belief. If they did; I simply forgot to switch over. If not; I should have caught the mistake; and asked for the hand off. Ether way; communication should have been more of a priority.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.