Narrative:

Did a VFR helicopter enter class delta airspace without a SVFR clearance? If yes; in this case; it is the fault of ATC; not the pilot. While on local control; TRACON called to request a VFR transition for a helicopter for which they were providing radar flight following. We work local control 1 combined with local control 2 over 95% of the time. When TRACON called; it was communicating with an IFR twin cessna on an ILS approach. Ground control answered the TRACON shout line. Normally local control answers this line; but it is not mandated. Ground control approved the transition; and then informed me that he had approved a VFR transition while pointing to it on the local control radc radar. This did not concern me since the broken layer of clouds making the airspace IFR was only a few hundred feet thick with good VFR above the fog/clouds. The helicopter was indicating 6;000 ft MSL. Our field elevation is a little under 5;700 MSL. The cloud bases were 6;200-6;300 MSL with tops (and top of fog) 6;600-6;800 MSL. When the helicopter entered the airspace without first climbing I started to call the helicopter. The helicopter answered after perhaps three calls. I advised the helicopter that 'delta airspace was IFR; say intentions'. He wanted to continue northwest bound. I was so hoping he would advise me that TRACON has issued him a special VFR clearance. I advised the helicopter that 'VFR flight was not authorized; say intentions'. He wanted to continue. I advised the helicopter again that 'delta airspace was below VFR minima and VFR flight was not authorized; say intentions'. He responded; 'well I guess I'll land'. After confirming that he had the airport in sight; cleared him to land on the runway; the closest controlled paved surface. Had the helicopter asked for SVFR I would have issued it. I believe low experience at both the TRACON and certainly with the ground controller contributed greatly to this situation. An experienced controller at TRACON would have transferred communication of the helicopter to our tower frequency and let tower deal with the situation. The TRACON called just as the IFR twin cessna got to the outer marker on the ILS. An experienced controller would not have initiated an inter-facility shout line call at the exact moment that they knew the ILS traffic would be calling tower. I do not know if the TRACON controller even understood we were IFR; and what ramifications that has. An experienced ground controller would have responded to the TRACON request with; 'we are IFR; what are you asking for'; or 'did he request special VFR'; or something sensible. An experienced ground controller would have identified to the local controller that the transition was approved at 6;000 ft MSL; giving the local controller a chance to respond. An experienced ground controller would not have responded to the TRACON request with; 'that'll work.' it didn't work! I still do not know if TRACON issued an appropriate SVFR transition clearance; but I doubt it. The pilot of the helicopter gave no indication they had any familiarity with SVFR procedures. I will advise all my co-workers who are not certified professional controllers not to answer the TRACON when I am working local control.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a confused SVFR event when both the ATC personnel and the pilot were apparently unfamiliar with SVFR requirements and conditions.

Narrative: Did a VFR helicopter enter Class Delta airspace without a SVFR clearance? If yes; in this case; it is the fault of ATC; not the pilot. While on Local Control; TRACON called to request a VFR transition for a helicopter for which they were providing RADAR flight following. We work Local Control 1 combined with Local Control 2 over 95% of the time. When TRACON called; it was communicating with an IFR Twin Cessna on an ILS approach. Ground Control answered the TRACON shout line. Normally Local Control answers this line; but it is not mandated. Ground Control approved the transition; and then informed me that he had approved a VFR transition while pointing to it on the Local Control RADC RADAR. This did not concern me since the broken layer of clouds making the airspace IFR was only a few hundred feet thick with good VFR above the fog/clouds. The helicopter was indicating 6;000 FT MSL. Our field elevation is a little under 5;700 MSL. The cloud bases were 6;200-6;300 MSL with tops (and top of fog) 6;600-6;800 MSL. When the helicopter entered the airspace without first climbing I started to call the helicopter. The helicopter answered after perhaps three calls. I advised the helicopter that 'Delta airspace was IFR; say intentions'. He wanted to continue northwest bound. I was so hoping he would advise me that TRACON has issued him a Special VFR clearance. I advised the helicopter that 'VFR flight was not authorized; say intentions'. He wanted to continue. I advised the helicopter again that 'Delta airspace was below VFR minima and VFR flight was not authorized; say intentions'. He responded; 'Well I guess I'll land'. After confirming that he had the airport in sight; cleared him to land on the runway; the closest controlled paved surface. Had the helicopter asked for SVFR I would have issued it. I believe low experience at both the TRACON and certainly with the Ground Controller contributed greatly to this situation. An experienced controller at TRACON would have transferred communication of the helicopter to our Tower frequency and let Tower deal with the situation. The TRACON called just as the IFR Twin Cessna got to the Outer Marker on the ILS. An experienced controller would not have initiated an inter-facility shout line call at the exact moment that they knew the ILS traffic would be calling Tower. I do not know if the TRACON Controller even understood we were IFR; and what ramifications that has. An experienced Ground Controller would have responded to the TRACON request with; 'we are IFR; what are you asking for'; or 'did he request Special VFR'; or something sensible. An experienced Ground Controller would have identified to the Local Controller that the transition was approved at 6;000 FT MSL; giving the Local Controller a chance to respond. An experienced Ground Controller would not have responded to the TRACON request with; 'that'll work.' It didn't work! I still do not know if TRACON issued an appropriate SVFR transition clearance; but I doubt it. The pilot of the helicopter gave no indication they had any familiarity with SVFR procedures. I will advise all my co-workers who are not Certified Professional Controllers not to answer the TRACON when I am working Local Control.

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.