VHF ground control transmitting frequency, for the south side of the airport only, did not seem to b...

Narrative:

Landed runway 24R, held short runway 24L on taxiway aa. Cleared to cross runway 24L and contact ground on taxiway aa. Taxiing south on taxiway aa, north side ground (121.65) instructed us to contact south side ground (121.75) at check point 3. South ground, however, would not acknowledge any of our calls, although we could hear all ongoing communications of ground with other aircraft. Reaching the south end of taxiway aa, short of taxiway C, ground would still not answer our calls. My experience taxiing this routing has always been to use taxiway B to our gates. Seeing no conflicting traffic on taxiway B or taxiway C, I turned east on taxiway B to put the aircraft within line of sight of the tower cabin attendant in hopes of raising them on the radio. Ground controller now acknowledged my position, but said my transmission was totally unreadable and to stop where I was. Now stopped on taxiway B, about 1/4 of the way from taxiway aa to gate, she would again acknowledge no further xmissions. I called north ground (121.65) and informed him of my position and problem. He said to call her back. After making us situation idle for 5 mins, she suddenly understood our radio just fine and gave us clearance along taxiway B in short ('up to and hold short of...') segments -- even though there was no conflicting traffic to give way to. In retrospect, the north ground may have intended to send us via the south route (versus bridge route) and I should not have crossed taxiway east until receipt of his more specific instructions. The tower's instruction to call ground on taxiway aa led me to believe they wanted me to continue south on taxiway aa, and thus clear the runway 24L turnoff. As for the south side, I know I should stay on taxiway aa short of taxiway C until receiving further clearance from ground, but her refusal to answer any of our calls gave me the impression we were not being heard from this position. With no conflict in sight, it seemed prudent to reposition the aircraft to establish radio contact. Now on taxiway B, she claimed she could not understand my xmissions, even when within sight of the tower cabin attendant.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: VHF GND CTL XMITTING FREQ, FOR THE S SIDE OF THE ARPT ONLY, DID NOT SEEM TO BE HEARD BY THE CTLR. THE CAPT WENT BEYOND HIS CLRNC LIMIT IN AN EFFORT TO ESTABLISH COMS. THE N COMPLEX FROM WHICH HE HAD JUST COME HAD HEARD THE RPTR OK.

Narrative: LANDED RWY 24R, HELD SHORT RWY 24L ON TXWY AA. CLRED TO CROSS RWY 24L AND CONTACT GND ON TXWY AA. TAXIING S ON TXWY AA, N SIDE GND (121.65) INSTRUCTED US TO CONTACT S SIDE GND (121.75) AT CHK POINT 3. S GND, HOWEVER, WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY OF OUR CALLS, ALTHOUGH WE COULD HEAR ALL ONGOING COMS OF GND WITH OTHER ACFT. REACHING THE S END OF TXWY AA, SHORT OF TXWY C, GND WOULD STILL NOT ANSWER OUR CALLS. MY EXPERIENCE TAXIING THIS ROUTING HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO USE TXWY B TO OUR GATES. SEEING NO CONFLICTING TFC ON TXWY B OR TXWY C, I TURNED E ON TXWY B TO PUT THE ACFT WITHIN LINE OF SIGHT OF THE TWR CAB IN HOPES OF RAISING THEM ON THE RADIO. GND CTLR NOW ACKNOWLEDGED MY POS, BUT SAID MY XMISSION WAS TOTALLY UNREADABLE AND TO STOP WHERE I WAS. NOW STOPPED ON TXWY B, ABOUT 1/4 OF THE WAY FROM TXWY AA TO GATE, SHE WOULD AGAIN ACKNOWLEDGE NO FURTHER XMISSIONS. I CALLED N GND (121.65) AND INFORMED HIM OF MY POS AND PROB. HE SAID TO CALL HER BACK. AFTER MAKING US SIT IDLE FOR 5 MINS, SHE SUDDENLY UNDERSTOOD OUR RADIO JUST FINE AND GAVE US CLRNC ALONG TXWY B IN SHORT ('UP TO AND HOLD SHORT OF...') SEGMENTS -- EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO CONFLICTING TFC TO GIVE WAY TO. IN RETROSPECT, THE N GND MAY HAVE INTENDED TO SEND US VIA THE S RTE (VERSUS BRIDGE RTE) AND I SHOULD NOT HAVE CROSSED TXWY E UNTIL RECEIPT OF HIS MORE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. THE TWR'S INSTRUCTION TO CALL GND ON TXWY AA LED ME TO BELIEVE THEY WANTED ME TO CONTINUE S ON TXWY AA, AND THUS CLR THE RWY 24L TURNOFF. AS FOR THE S SIDE, I KNOW I SHOULD STAY ON TXWY AA SHORT OF TXWY C UNTIL RECEIVING FURTHER CLRNC FROM GND, BUT HER REFUSAL TO ANSWER ANY OF OUR CALLS GAVE ME THE IMPRESSION WE WERE NOT BEING HEARD FROM THIS POS. WITH NO CONFLICT IN SIGHT, IT SEEMED PRUDENT TO REPOSITION THE ACFT TO ESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT. NOW ON TXWY B, SHE CLAIMED SHE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND MY XMISSIONS, EVEN WHEN WITHIN SIGHT OF THE TWR CAB.

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.

Attributes
ACN	420944
Time
Date	199811
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : lax
State Reference	CA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 116 flight time total : 10635 flight time type : 1875
ASRS Report	420944
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : clearance other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

VHF ground control transmitting frequency, for the south side of the airport only, did not seem to be heard by the controller. The captain went beyond his clearance limit in an effort to establish communications. The north complex from which he had just come had heard the reporter ok.