Captain experiences lost communications during late night approach and landing at pvd with the tower...

Narrative:

Received vectors from boston as providence tower was closed. Cleared to descend to 2600 ft for vectors to final runway 23 at providence (pvd). On reaching 2600 ft we lost communication with [boston center]. First officer was flying. We were visual with the airport so he entered a left base for a visual approach. I tried to contact approach on all the frequencies on the approach plate also transmitting our position on unicom and transmitting blind on 121.5. I directed the first officer to try transmitting on his radios and he was unable to receive either. Landed and taxied in. On reaching the ramp; we were able to receive center again. Our flight mechanic tested all the radios and they appeared to be working. I tested the radios with the airport operator and they were satisfactory. Called boston center and advised them of our inability to receive them and cancelled the IFR flight plan. The controller stated that sometimes they encountered areas around pvd where they lost communications. The approach controller had descended us quite early to 2600 ft; I believe the low altitude contributed to bad reception. We later took off from pvd and had difficulty receiving boston until we climbed above 4000 ft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain experiences lost communications during late night approach and landing at PVD with the Tower closed. During the following departure Boston Center advises that his frequency coverage is spotty at low altitude around PVD.

Narrative: Received vectors from Boston as Providence Tower was closed. Cleared to descend to 2600 FT for vectors to final Runway 23 at Providence (PVD). On reaching 2600 FT we lost communication with [Boston Center]. First Officer was flying. We were visual with the airport so he entered a left base for a visual approach. I tried to contact approach on all the frequencies on the approach plate also transmitting our position on Unicom and transmitting blind on 121.5. I directed the First Officer to try transmitting on his radios and he was unable to receive either. Landed and taxied in. On reaching the ramp; we were able to receive Center again. Our Flight Mechanic tested all the radios and they appeared to be working. I tested the radios with the Airport operator and they were satisfactory. Called Boston Center and advised them of our inability to receive them and cancelled the IFR flight plan. The Controller stated that sometimes they encountered areas around PVD where they lost communications. The approach Controller had descended us quite early to 2600 FT; I believe the low altitude contributed to bad reception. We later took off from PVD and had difficulty receiving Boston until we climbed above 4000 FT.

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	1118891
Time
Date	201309
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	PVD.Airport
State Reference	RI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Vectors Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 98 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 5600
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Captain experiences lost communications during late night approach and landing at pvd with the tower closed. During the following departure boston center advises that his frequency coverage is spotty at low altitude around pvd.