Air carrier captain reports that the note with the ATIS frequency for sjt stating that the 128.45 is...

Narrative:

Approaching sjt I listened to the ATIS on 128.45. The ATIS stated that the tower was closed at 21:00 local and gave NOTAM information; but no weather. I requested weather for sjt through the ACARS; and received the xa:53 local weather. I noticed that the commercial 1 approach charts noted that 128.45 was the ATIS and '(ASOS when twr inop)'. I was curious why there was no weather broadcast on the ATIS. I decided to contact sjt tower to ask why the weather info was missing; expecting it to be an oversight. The tower answered; gave me the current weather; and stated that the funding had been requested for the ASOS to broadcast on the ATIS frequency; but that it had not yet been approved. This means that the note on the commercial 1 charts is in error; and that there is no weather information on the ATIS frequency when the tower is closed. This may not be a problem for ACARS equipped aircraft; but if the ACARS is deferred; and tower is closed; it may be difficult or impossible to get current weather for sjt at a low altitude. Perhaps the company could figure out an alternative means of obtaining current sjt weather when the tower is closed and ACARS is deferred; and letting the flight crews know on the briefing pages; as the current briefing page states 'ASOS available via ATIS frequency' and is not correct.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reports that the note with the ATIS frequency for SJT stating that the 128.45 is for ASOS when the Tower is closed is incorrect according to the Tower Controller.

Narrative: Approaching SJT I listened to the ATIS on 128.45. The ATIS stated that the Tower was closed at 21:00 local and gave NOTAM information; but no weather. I requested weather for SJT through the ACARS; and received the XA:53 local weather. I noticed that the Commercial 1 approach charts noted that 128.45 was the ATIS and '(ASOS when Twr Inop)'. I was curious why there was no weather broadcast on the ATIS. I decided to contact SJT Tower to ask why the weather info was missing; expecting it to be an oversight. The Tower answered; gave me the current weather; and stated that the funding had been requested for the ASOS to broadcast on the ATIS frequency; but that it had not yet been approved. This means that the note on the Commercial 1 charts is in error; and that there is no weather information on the ATIS frequency when the Tower is closed. This may not be a problem for ACARS equipped aircraft; but if the ACARS is deferred; and Tower is closed; it may be difficult or impossible to get current weather for SJT at a low altitude. Perhaps the company could figure out an alternative means of obtaining current SJT weather when the Tower is closed and ACARS is deferred; and letting the flight crews know on the briefing pages; as the current briefing page states 'ASOS available via ATIS frequency' and is not correct.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1112464
Time
Date	201308
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SJT.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Air carrier captain reports that the note with the ATIS frequency for sjt stating that the 128.45 is for ASOS when the tower is closed is incorrect according to the tower controller.