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A mq-9 pilot reported communications difficulties while attempting to transfer ATC control of the uav to the final approach crew.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1023598 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201207 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | Mixed |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 3000 Flight Crew Type 300 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
The uav began a transit toward its home base due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions in the vicinity of airport. I requested and was cleared into the adjacent operating areas at FL230 while transiting westbound. Crossing from adjacent areas; I requested clearance into the restricted area from center. Center stated that they would advise approach of our intentions. We remained with center while we transited into and loitered in the operating area. The recovery aircrew at the destination advised us that they would be unable to talk to center from their ground control station and requested we switch to destination airport approach so they could regain control of the aircraft. At that time I requested a handover to approach from center; on the same frequency I previously requested clearance into the restricted area; and was cleared to switch to approach from center. At that time we immediately switched to approach and checked in. The controller asked our intentions and I stated that the destination airport controllers would be regaining control of the uav and that they would be requesting a recovery to its home base. Immediately following that call I passed the aircraft control over to the destination flight crew and they checked in with approach; who was querying the destination flight crew about our handover from center. Following the flight I spoke with a tower controller via telephone and relayed the above events.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A MQ-9 pilot reported communications difficulties while attempting to transfer ATC control of the UAV to the final approach crew.
Narrative: The UAV began a transit toward its home base due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions in the vicinity of airport. I requested and was cleared into the adjacent operating areas at FL230 while transiting westbound. Crossing from adjacent areas; I requested clearance into the restricted area from Center. Center stated that they would advise Approach of our intentions. We remained with Center while we transited into and loitered in the operating area. The recovery aircrew at the destination advised us that they would be unable to talk to Center from their ground control station and requested we switch to destination airport Approach so they could regain control of the aircraft. At that time I requested a handover to Approach from Center; on the same frequency I previously requested clearance into the restricted area; and was cleared to switch to Approach from Center. At that time we immediately switched to Approach and checked in. The Controller asked our intentions and I stated that the destination airport controllers would be regaining control of the UAV and that they would be requesting a recovery to its home base. Immediately following that call I passed the aircraft control over to the destination flight crew and they checked in with Approach; who was querying the destination flight crew about our handover from Center. Following the flight I spoke with a Tower Controller via telephone and relayed the above events.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.