Narrative:

We were flying into lck. Approach control cleared us for the visual to 23L. Approach switched us over to lck tower. I checked in. Tower switched us to land on runway 23R and asked to confirm our landing gear were down. After performing the landing checklist; I reported to tower that we had 'three down and locked' and then asked if we were cleared to land. Tower's response was 'no change'. The first officer and I looked at each other and said what does that mean. I asked again if we were cleared to land. Tower responded 'no change'. We were about to start a go-around when tower cleared us to land on 23R. After blocking in; I called the tower supervisor. It was the same person who was our controller. I told him that when I asked if we were cleared to land; I needed clarification. He said 'no change' was clear to him. I told him if it was clear to us we would not be asking the question. He didn't see it that way. I ended the conversation because I knew this controller wasn't going to understand. I told him I needed to talk to some one higher up than him. It does not matter if he cleared us to land or not; neither the first officer nor I heard it; I asked for landing clearance and he did not give it. I have never heard the term 'no change' in any flying publication that I have read.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier crew landing at LCK was confused by the terminology used by the controller to issue a landing clearance.

Narrative: We were flying into LCK. Approach Control cleared us for the visual to 23L. Approach switched us over to LCK Tower. I checked in. Tower switched us to land on Runway 23R and asked to confirm our landing gear were down. After performing the landing checklist; I reported to Tower that we had 'Three down and locked' and then asked if we were cleared to land. Tower's response was 'No Change'. The First Officer and I looked at each other and said what does that mean. I asked again if we were cleared to land. Tower responded 'No Change'. We were about to start a Go-Around when Tower cleared us to land on 23R. After blocking in; I called the Tower Supervisor. It was the same person who was our controller. I told him that when I asked if we were cleared to land; I needed clarification. He said 'No change' was clear to him. I told him if it was clear to us we would not be asking the question. He didn't see it that way. I ended the conversation because I knew this controller wasn't going to understand. I told him I needed to talk to some one higher up than him. It does not matter if he cleared us to land or not; neither the First Officer nor I heard it; I asked for landing clearance and he did not give it. I have never heard the term 'No Change' in any flying publication that I have read.

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.