Narrative:

Taxing for IFR release at destin. I tried to contact eglin clearance and clearance release on the published frequencies and finally managed contact with great difficulty! Contact with ATC while on the ground has always been; and still is; an admitted 'hit and miss' problem with eglin. This airport has a CTAF/unicom frequency and several different frequencies with which to communicate and try to maintain a safe operational environment. With no tower and the extremely close proximity to eglin AFB; the operations at dts are growing increasingly more dangerous. That is an admitted fact by eglin ATC and base operations. Without a tower to coordinate the operations at the airport; it is just a matter of time until a serious accident happens there. Between the multiple frequencies that one must navigate through to get a clearance; taxi; get released; watch for abundant traffic and fly the airplane and be vectored; a tower with appropriate ATC personnel to coordinate departures and arrivals with all civilian traffic and abundant military is sorely needed. With so many frequencies to change and communicate on; it is very easy to get into a conflict or incursion on the runway with other traffic. With coordination of military traffic; civilian traffic and 'hit and miss' communications there; a tower with a clearance; ground and tower controllers would make destin a much safer place.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IFR departure from DTS voiced concern regarding the continued difficulty in establishing communications with Eglin ATC for IFR operations; suggesting some type of improvement is critical to maintain safety.

Narrative: Taxing for IFR release at Destin. I tried to contact Eglin clearance and clearance release on the published frequencies and finally managed contact with great difficulty! Contact with ATC while on the ground has always been; and still is; an admitted 'hit and miss' problem with Eglin. This airport has a CTAF/UNICOM frequency and several different frequencies with which to communicate and try to maintain a safe operational environment. With no tower and the extremely close proximity to Eglin AFB; the operations at DTS are growing increasingly more dangerous. That is an admitted fact by Eglin ATC and base operations. Without a tower to coordinate the operations at the airport; it is just a matter of time until a serious accident happens there. Between the multiple frequencies that one must navigate through to get a clearance; taxi; get released; watch for abundant traffic and fly the airplane and be vectored; a tower with appropriate ATC personnel to coordinate departures and arrivals with all civilian traffic and abundant military is sorely needed. With so many frequencies to change and communicate on; it is very easy to get into a conflict or incursion on the runway with other traffic. With coordination of military traffic; civilian traffic and 'hit and miss' communications there; a tower with a clearance; Ground and Tower Controllers would make Destin a much safer place.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.