Narrative:

On a normal VFR day the copilot and myself were preparing for our next leg from williamsport to philadelphia. I was loading the passenger and the copilot was doing the manifest since it was his leg. He had to do the manifest over 3 times because operations kept on sending out another passenger or bags (when they said that was all another one came out) so we were starting to get a little frustrated. I started the engines and then gave him the aircraft. As he taxied out I became preoccupied with running the after start checklists and the briefing. It is our company policy that the PF does the radio communication, ie, ground and tower. So I wasn't paying attention to the radios. As he started down the taxiway I noticed that he didn't have the ground frequency on #1 communication and I queried him about that. I asked him if he had contacted ground and he thought he did but was not sure and so he contacted ground and asked for the IFR clearance at which point they said we had not contacted them for a taxi clearance. I think that the copilot was frustrated about redoing the manifest 3 times and he was anxious to depart. Also, the commuter ramp is very small and once the aircraft is turned around, you are practically on the taxiway, there is no clear definition or markings to visually warn you that there is a change from ramp to taxiway. Lastly, I was too busy doing other work to double-check the copilot. We decided that to prevent this any time we departed a ramp area, we would call ground before moving the aircraft on the ramp, rather than calling them while we were moving on the ramp toward the taxiway. Also, no checklists would be performed until we were sure of a taxi clearance. Supplemental information from acn 299571: I was taxiing. We were marshalled out of the gate and had progressed approximately 50 ft onto taxiway when I called for our clearance. There was no other traffic on the airport surface and an army king air landed subsequently, so he must have been on a visual approach. The ground controller proceeded to shout at us on the radio 'next time before we got on his taxiway we had better give him a call first...' and gave us the tower phone number with instructions to call upon our arrival in philadelphia. I called upon our arrival and he said he was not going to file any paper work or a violation against us, but that this was the third time today that the same thing had happened (other incidents involved 2 other commuters of different companies), and suggested a flaw somewhere in the way things were being done. I pointed out that the ramp was rather small and by the time we were marshalled out we were in the taxiway, also they have no ATIS, so the flow is somewhat different compared to the airport we normally operate from. We had also had to redo our manifest 3 times as additional passenger showed up late, so we were hurrying. In the future, we will pick up clrncs prior to any movement, to preclude this situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC TAXIED WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative: ON A NORMAL VFR DAY THE COPLT AND MYSELF WERE PREPARING FOR OUR NEXT LEG FROM WILLIAMSPORT TO PHILADELPHIA. I WAS LOADING THE PAX AND THE COPLT WAS DOING THE MANIFEST SINCE IT WAS HIS LEG. HE HAD TO DO THE MANIFEST OVER 3 TIMES BECAUSE OPS KEPT ON SENDING OUT ANOTHER PAX OR BAGS (WHEN THEY SAID THAT WAS ALL ANOTHER ONE CAME OUT) SO WE WERE STARTING TO GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED. I STARTED THE ENGS AND THEN GAVE HIM THE ACFT. AS HE TAXIED OUT I BECAME PREOCCUPIED WITH RUNNING THE AFTER START CHKLISTS AND THE BRIEFING. IT IS OUR COMPANY POLICY THAT THE PF DOES THE RADIO COM, IE, GND AND TWR. SO I WASN'T PAYING ATTN TO THE RADIOS. AS HE STARTED DOWN THE TXWY I NOTICED THAT HE DIDN'T HAVE THE GND FREQ ON #1 COM AND I QUERIED HIM ABOUT THAT. I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD CONTACTED GND AND HE THOUGHT HE DID BUT WAS NOT SURE AND SO HE CONTACTED GND AND ASKED FOR THE IFR CLRNC AT WHICH POINT THEY SAID WE HAD NOT CONTACTED THEM FOR A TAXI CLRNC. I THINK THAT THE COPLT WAS FRUSTRATED ABOUT REDOING THE MANIFEST 3 TIMES AND HE WAS ANXIOUS TO DEPART. ALSO, THE COMMUTER RAMP IS VERY SMALL AND ONCE THE ACFT IS TURNED AROUND, YOU ARE PRACTICALLY ON THE TXWY, THERE IS NO CLR DEFINITION OR MARKINGS TO VISUALLY WARN YOU THAT THERE IS A CHANGE FROM RAMP TO TXWY. LASTLY, I WAS TOO BUSY DOING OTHER WORK TO DOUBLE-CHK THE COPLT. WE DECIDED THAT TO PREVENT THIS ANY TIME WE DEPARTED A RAMP AREA, WE WOULD CALL GND BEFORE MOVING THE ACFT ON THE RAMP, RATHER THAN CALLING THEM WHILE WE WERE MOVING ON THE RAMP TOWARD THE TXWY. ALSO, NO CHKLISTS WOULD BE PERFORMED UNTIL WE WERE SURE OF A TAXI CLRNC. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 299571: I WAS TAXIING. WE WERE MARSHALLED OUT OF THE GATE AND HAD PROGRESSED APPROX 50 FT ONTO TXWY WHEN I CALLED FOR OUR CLRNC. THERE WAS NO OTHER TFC ON THE ARPT SURFACE AND AN ARMY KING AIR LANDED SUBSEQUENTLY, SO HE MUST HAVE BEEN ON A VISUAL APCH. THE GND CTLR PROCEEDED TO SHOUT AT US ON THE RADIO 'NEXT TIME BEFORE WE GOT ON HIS TXWY WE HAD BETTER GIVE HIM A CALL FIRST...' AND GAVE US THE TWR PHONE NUMBER WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO CALL UPON OUR ARR IN PHILADELPHIA. I CALLED UPON OUR ARR AND HE SAID HE WAS NOT GOING TO FILE ANY PAPER WORK OR A VIOLATION AGAINST US, BUT THAT THIS WAS THE THIRD TIME TODAY THAT THE SAME THING HAD HAPPENED (OTHER INCIDENTS INVOLVED 2 OTHER COMMUTERS OF DIFFERENT COMPANIES), AND SUGGESTED A FLAW SOMEWHERE IN THE WAY THINGS WERE BEING DONE. I POINTED OUT THAT THE RAMP WAS RATHER SMALL AND BY THE TIME WE WERE MARSHALLED OUT WE WERE IN THE TXWY, ALSO THEY HAVE NO ATIS, SO THE FLOW IS SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT COMPARED TO THE ARPT WE NORMALLY OPERATE FROM. WE HAD ALSO HAD TO REDO OUR MANIFEST 3 TIMES AS ADDITIONAL PAX SHOWED UP LATE, SO WE WERE HURRYING. IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL PICK UP CLRNCS PRIOR TO ANY MOVEMENT, TO PRECLUDE THIS SIT.

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.