Narrative:

Tower supervisor called operations in lax and told me we had just taxied into the gate from the runway without a clearance from ground control. He said he had attempted to contact us on all available frequency at lax and got no response at all. I cannot verify what frequency we were on because by the time I was able to return to the aircraft the copilot had already set the radios for the next leg. I do recall however, listening to a female voice giving instructions to various aircraft during our taxi. We did have traffic during taxi, but everything went very smoothly and although at one point I did question the copilot about our clearance, (which he confirmed we had been 'cleared to the gate') I failed to confirm with ground control. My guess is that we were still on the tower frequency, although why we did not hear any attempts to contact us, I cannot say. We both felt that we had been cleared to the gate. Perhaps that is what we had expected and wanted to hear. I believe that possibly we were distracted by a previous event that had occurred during the approach and lingering thoughts probably caused the mix-up. How to avoid this again? Easy. 'Any' time one has 'any' concern one should confirm with the controling agency.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 ACFT AFTER LNDG AND CLRING RWY WERE CLRED TO CONTACT GND CTLR, BUT FORGOT. CAPT RPTR ASKED THE FO IF THEY HAD CLRNC AND HE RESPONDED THEY WERE CLRED TO THE GATE, BUT, IN FACT, THEY WEREN'T. ENRTE THEY GAVE WAY TO SEVERAL ACFT AND DIDN'T HEAR ANY CALL ATTEMPTS BY TWR AND OR GND CTLR. WHEN THE CAPT WAS COMPLETING PAPERWORK FOR THE NEXT LEG HIS COMPANY ADVISED THAT THE TWR SUPVR HAD CALLED TO TELL HIM HE HAD TAXIED TO THE GATE WITHOUT CLRNC. THE FO HAD ALREADY SET DEP FREQS IN RADIO SO THEY WERE UNABLE TO CHK.

Narrative: TWR SUPVR CALLED OPS IN LAX AND TOLD ME WE HAD JUST TAXIED INTO THE GATE FROM THE RWY WITHOUT A CLRNC FROM GND CTL. HE SAID HE HAD ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT US ON ALL AVAILABLE FREQ AT LAX AND GOT NO RESPONSE AT ALL. I CANNOT VERIFY WHAT FREQ WE WERE ON BECAUSE BY THE TIME I WAS ABLE TO RETURN TO THE ACFT THE COPLT HAD ALREADY SET THE RADIOS FOR THE NEXT LEG. I DO RECALL HOWEVER, LISTENING TO A FEMALE VOICE GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO VARIOUS ACFT DURING OUR TAXI. WE DID HAVE TFC DURING TAXI, BUT EVERYTHING WENT VERY SMOOTHLY AND ALTHOUGH AT ONE POINT I DID QUESTION THE COPLT ABOUT OUR CLRNC, (WHICH HE CONFIRMED WE HAD BEEN 'CLRED TO THE GATE') I FAILED TO CONFIRM WITH GND CTL. MY GUESS IS THAT WE WERE STILL ON THE TWR FREQ, ALTHOUGH WHY WE DID NOT HEAR ANY ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT US, I CANNOT SAY. WE BOTH FELT THAT WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO THE GATE. PERHAPS THAT IS WHAT WE HAD EXPECTED AND WANTED TO HEAR. I BELIEVE THAT POSSIBLY WE WERE DISTRACTED BY A PREVIOUS EVENT THAT HAD OCCURRED DURING THE APCH AND LINGERING THOUGHTS PROBABLY CAUSED THE MIX-UP. HOW TO AVOID THIS AGAIN? EASY. 'ANY' TIME ONE HAS 'ANY' CONCERN ONE SHOULD CONFIRM WITH THE CTLING AGENCY.

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.