IFR air carrier departure from gjt voiced concern regarding the issued clearance and a center contro...

Attributes
ACN	975286
Time
Date	201110
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZDV.ARTCC
State Reference	CO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 90 Flight Crew Total 1500 Flight Crew Type 300
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Narrative:

During a routine flight I was issued an IFR clearance on the ground. I fully expected that this clearance was providing me terrain separation. It wasn't until I was handed off to center that I realized there was a disconnect between what I was issued and what ATC expected me to do. After initial check in with center I was told to maintain VFR and own terrain to 14;000. Being in mountainous terrain; at night; with this confusion was unnerving to say the least. The center controller seemed confused about how I could possibly be issued an IFR clearance out of gjt. He seemed to think that all departures were told to maintain VFR. To the best of my knowledge the entire issue seemed to be the disconnect with what the clearance actually was and this one controller. It still made me uneasy to be surrounded by mountains and be issued a 'maintain VFR' this late in the game.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IFR Air Carrier departure from GJT voiced concern regarding the issued clearance and a Center Controller insistence that VFR had to be maintained on any departure from the subject airport.

Narrative: During a routine flight I was issued an IFR clearance on the ground. I fully expected that this clearance was providing me terrain separation. It wasn't until I was handed off to Center that I realized there was a disconnect between what I was issued and what ATC expected me to do. After initial check in with Center I was told to maintain VFR and own terrain to 14;000. Being in mountainous terrain; at night; with this confusion was unnerving to say the least. The Center Controller seemed confused about how I could possibly be issued an IFR clearance out of GJT. He seemed to think that all departures were told to maintain VFR. To the best of my knowledge the entire issue seemed to be the disconnect with what the clearance actually was and this one controller. It still made me uneasy to be surrounded by mountains and be issued a 'maintain VFR' this late in the game.

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.

IFR air carrier departure from gjt voiced concern regarding the issued clearance and a center controller insistence that VFR had to be maintained on any departure from the subject airport.