Narrative:

As we approached from the south for a landing in stt, we were told to enter a right base over a small island called little saba, which lies about 3 mi southwest of the airport, and to report over little saba. We completely missed our call over the island, and continued our approach until we heard the controller say something about an small transport on base apparently west/O radios. My captain was busy talking to operations on the #2 communication, and on this particular aircraft we had a problem with the #2 transmitter blocking reception of the #1 radio. Consequently, I missed 3 calls from the tower informing us of a departing small aircraft from runway 28. By the time we became fully aware of our situation, the controller was about to issue an immediate turn to the small aircraft, but we called the traffic in sight and were then cleared to land. The controller was understandably upset at our lack of attention. Later after we landed in san juan to finish our 14 hour duty day, we called the stt controller to try and iron out the situation. He was sympathetic to our radio problem (which was being fixed as we spoke), but agreed with my admission of the fact that we allowed ourselves to become distracted to the point of excluding our approach and communications from our awareness. The captain was talking to the company, and I was listening to him, as well as an arguing couple in back, instead of paying attention to the radios. This was compounded by the fact that there was nothing to hear, as most reception was blocked by the other radio's xmissions. The controller, who used to fly near ord, made a good point: you wouldn't allow such distrs on approach to the busiest airport in the country. And while stt is sleepy in comparison, the potential for an accident is still there.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: COMMUTER SMT CLOSE PROX WITH AN SMA THAT HAD DEPARTED OPPOSITE DIRECTION FROM STT.

Narrative: AS WE APCHED FROM THE S FOR A LNDG IN STT, WE WERE TOLD TO ENTER A RIGHT BASE OVER A SMALL ISLAND CALLED LITTLE SABA, WHICH LIES ABOUT 3 MI SW OF THE ARPT, AND TO RPT OVER LITTLE SABA. WE COMPLETELY MISSED OUR CALL OVER THE ISLAND, AND CONTINUED OUR APCH UNTIL WE HEARD THE CTLR SAY SOMETHING ABOUT AN SMT ON BASE APPARENTLY W/O RADIOS. MY CAPT WAS BUSY TALKING TO OPS ON THE #2 COM, AND ON THIS PARTICULAR ACFT WE HAD A PROB WITH THE #2 XMITTER BLOCKING RECEPTION OF THE #1 RADIO. CONSEQUENTLY, I MISSED 3 CALLS FROM THE TWR INFORMING US OF A DEPARTING SMA FROM RWY 28. BY THE TIME WE BECAME FULLY AWARE OF OUR SITUATION, THE CTLR WAS ABOUT TO ISSUE AN IMMEDIATE TURN TO THE SMA, BUT WE CALLED THE TFC IN SIGHT AND WERE THEN CLRED TO LAND. THE CTLR WAS UNDERSTANDABLY UPSET AT OUR LACK OF ATTN. LATER AFTER WE LANDED IN SAN JUAN TO FINISH OUR 14 HR DUTY DAY, WE CALLED THE STT CTLR TO TRY AND IRON OUT THE SITUATION. HE WAS SYMPATHETIC TO OUR RADIO PROB (WHICH WAS BEING FIXED AS WE SPOKE), BUT AGREED WITH MY ADMISSION OF THE FACT THAT WE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO BECOME DISTRACTED TO THE POINT OF EXCLUDING OUR APCH AND COMS FROM OUR AWARENESS. THE CAPT WAS TALKING TO THE COMPANY, AND I WAS LISTENING TO HIM, AS WELL AS AN ARGUING COUPLE IN BACK, INSTEAD OF PAYING ATTN TO THE RADIOS. THIS WAS COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING TO HEAR, AS MOST RECEPTION WAS BLOCKED BY THE OTHER RADIO'S XMISSIONS. THE CTLR, WHO USED TO FLY NEAR ORD, MADE A GOOD POINT: YOU WOULDN'T ALLOW SUCH DISTRS ON APCH TO THE BUSIEST ARPT IN THE COUNTRY. AND WHILE STT IS SLEEPY IN COMPARISON, THE POTENTIAL FOR AN ACCIDENT IS STILL THERE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.