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An RNAV equipped air carrier flight crew was uncertain whether their clearance direct to bsv; cleared for the runway 1 ILS to cak required them to fly a course reversal at bsv. ATC was unresponsive to their request for clarification and they opted not to fly the reversal. They then descended from the 3;000 ft MEA from bsv to bulit prior to being 'established' on the localizer per the tower controller.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1045829 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201210 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | CAK.Airport |
| State Reference | OH |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 202 Flight Crew Type 8650 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 175 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
On descent into akron; we were cleared direct bsv cleared for the approach maintain 3;100 ft and contact the tower. Upon contacting the tower; we were cleared to land. I queried the tower about our clearance because we were not clear on how we were going to transition to the ILS from bsv. The tower then asked what my clearance was from approach to which I repeated 'cleared bsv VOR ILS 1 approach' to which he responded 'cleared for the approach.'if you look at the approach plate this is very confusing on how we were expected to reverse course inbound. There is a holding pattern over bsv but it is not a mandatory hold in bold print. We were quickly approaching bsv and both we were discussing how we were going to do this approach. We were not expecting a clearance to bsv. We were expecting vectors to final since we were in a radar environment. To eliminate the confusion; I requested direct cable (the FAF) twice to which tower responded; 'cleared for the approach' both times. Was that a clearance to cable? At this time; we crossed bsv and the first officer (pilot flying) turned north; intercepted the localizer and landed. This was a very confusing event in a very short period of time that I tried to clarify and resolve; but was unable to do so because of absolutely no help from the tower controller. At the very least he should have cleared us to cable then to land. This would have eliminated all the confusion between us and the tower on how we were safely going to accomplish this approach. The tower controller knew there was some confusion on our part as to our approach clearance yet he was no help whatsoever in clearing this up. I expect a controller to clarify his clearance to me if I question it in the interest of safety. I was very disappointed in the way this tower controller responded to our needs.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An RNAV equipped air carrier flight crew was uncertain whether their clearance direct to BSV; cleared for the Runway 1 ILS to CAK required them to fly a course reversal at BSV. ATC was unresponsive to their request for clarification and they opted not to fly the reversal. They then descended from the 3;000 FT MEA from BSV to BULIT prior to being 'established' on the Localizer per the Tower Controller.
Narrative: On descent into Akron; we were cleared direct BSV cleared for the approach maintain 3;100 FT and contact the Tower. Upon contacting the Tower; we were cleared to land. I queried the Tower about our clearance because we were not clear on how we were going to transition to the ILS from BSV. The Tower then asked what my clearance was from Approach to which I repeated 'cleared BSV VOR ILS 1 approach' to which he responded 'cleared for the approach.'If you look at the approach plate this is very confusing on how we were expected to reverse course inbound. There is a holding pattern over BSV but it is not a mandatory hold in bold print. We were quickly approaching BSV and both we were discussing how we were going to do this approach. We were not expecting a clearance to BSV. We were expecting vectors to final since we were in a radar environment. To eliminate the confusion; I requested direct CABLE (the FAF) twice to which Tower responded; 'cleared for the approach' both times. Was that a clearance to CABLE? At this time; we crossed BSV and the First Officer (pilot flying) turned north; intercepted the Localizer and landed. This was a very confusing event in a very short period of time that I tried to clarify and resolve; but was unable to do so because of absolutely no help from the Tower Controller. At the very least he should have cleared us to CABLE then to land. This would have eliminated all the confusion between us and the Tower on how we were safely going to accomplish this approach. The Tower Controller knew there was some confusion on our part as to our approach clearance yet he was no help whatsoever in clearing this up. I expect a Controller to clarify his clearance to me if I question it in the interest of safety. I was very disappointed in the way this Tower Controller responded to our needs.
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.