B737 flight crew departed sjc after tower had closed without ATC clearance; thinking the pre departu...

Attributes
ACN	1286069
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SJC.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 154
Person 2
Function	First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

Departing out of uncontrolled sjc (tower closed). We received pre departure clearance from sjc prior to closure; however; didn't push back/taxi until after tower had closed. We assumed receiving pre departure clearance was adequate IFR clearance to takeoff and depart uncontrolled sjc airport. After takeoff and on initial contact with norcal departure control; norcal professionally advised us we needed to contact FSS or departure control prior to departure in order to coordinate for IFR departure.possibly note in [manual] advising aircrew that receipt of pre departure clearance does not equate to an adequate contact with FSS or departure control for IFR clearance to depart uncontrolled field. We queried this amongst ourselves in the cockpit; however we incorrectly assumed the pre departure clearance was an adequate clearance. Clearly it was not.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew departed SJC after tower had closed without ATC clearance; thinking the PDC they received before tower closure was sufficient.

Narrative: Departing out of uncontrolled SJC (Tower closed). We received PDC from SJC prior to closure; however; didn't push back/taxi until after Tower had closed. We assumed receiving PDC was adequate IFR clearance to takeoff and depart uncontrolled SJC airport. After takeoff and on initial contact with NORCAL Departure Control; NORCAL professionally advised us we needed to contact FSS or Departure Control prior to departure in order to coordinate for IFR departure.Possibly note in [manual] advising Aircrew that receipt of PDC does not equate to an adequate contact with FSS or Departure Control for IFR clearance to depart uncontrolled field. We queried this amongst ourselves in the cockpit; however we incorrectly assumed the PDC was an adequate clearance. Clearly it was not.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

B737 flight crew departed sjc after tower had closed without ATC clearance; thinking the pre departure clearance they received before tower closure was sufficient.