A single engine aircraft pilot misunderstood the local controller's traffic pattern entry instructio...

Narrative:

I was returning from a cross country from the west. I contacted aeg tower over the rio puerco. The tower was busy with several inbounds from the north; east and from the south. He cleared me as number two (best of my recollection) for runway 17 and to report mid field downwind. A few minutes later he called me to report my location; and I stated I was on extended crosswind for runway 17. The tower then continued to talk with another aircraft complaining about the traffic delay I was causing and he didn't know where I was. I had to break into the conversation (not pertinent to flight) with the other pilot to inform him I was just south of the sludge plant. I was a little frustrated that the tower was talking to another aircraft about not knowing where I was and not talking to me! At this time I should have realized we were having communication difficulty; and I should have spoken up. He then claimed to have me in sight; cleared me as number one; and told me I was to proceed to downwind for runway 17. I received a call while I was on downwind that I was supposed to be on a right downwind not a left downwind. From that point on the tower was extremely irate; and started re-vectoring traffic while making what I thought were unprofessional comments to me through the remainder of my flight. For the life of me I do not remember him saying left or right downwind; but he could have. I believe some of the contributing factors were fatigue on my part from two plus hours in hot bumpy air; as well as not speaking up when I first realized we were having communication problems. I could have made more precise location calls as well to minimize the confusion. I will be getting out to fly more often to keep up my proficiency up and will be verifying with traffic pattern is to be used (right or left traffic) if I do not hear one offered up. I also believe other contributing factor are the closing of runway 22-4 which has greatly increased the workload of the tower personnel; as well as the tower having a non-critical to flight conversation with another pilot. If the tower had insisted on a read back the incident could have also been avoided. On my part; I will be calling up my instructor and inviting him for some sight seeing as well as flight training.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A single engine aircraft Pilot misunderstood the Local Controller's traffic pattern entry instructions. After the error was recognized; the Pilot was treated in an unprofessional manner by the Controller.

Narrative: I was returning from a cross country from the west. I contacted AEG Tower over the Rio Puerco. The Tower was busy with several inbounds from the north; east and from the south. He cleared me as number two (best of my recollection) for Runway 17 and to report mid field downwind. A few minutes later he called me to report my location; and I stated I was on extended crosswind for Runway 17. The Tower then continued to talk with another aircraft complaining about the traffic delay I was causing and he didn't know where I was. I had to break into the conversation (not pertinent to flight) with the other pilot to inform him I was just south of the sludge plant. I was a little frustrated that the Tower was talking to another aircraft about not knowing where I was and not talking to me! At this time I should have realized we were having communication difficulty; and I should have spoken up. He then claimed to have me in sight; cleared me as number one; and told me I was to proceed to downwind for Runway 17. I received a call while I was on downwind that I was supposed to be on a right downwind not a left downwind. From that point on the Tower was extremely irate; and started re-vectoring traffic while making what I thought were unprofessional comments to me through the remainder of my flight. For the life of me I do not remember him saying left or right downwind; but he could have. I believe some of the contributing factors were fatigue on my part from two plus hours in hot bumpy air; as well as not speaking up when I first realized we were having communication problems. I could have made more precise location calls as well to minimize the confusion. I will be getting out to fly more often to keep up my proficiency up and will be verifying with traffic pattern is to be used (right or left traffic) if I do not hear one offered up. I also believe other contributing factor are the closing of Runway 22-4 which has greatly increased the workload of the Tower personnel; as well as the Tower having a non-critical to flight conversation with another pilot. If the Tower had insisted on a read back the incident could have also been avoided. On my part; I will be calling up my instructor and inviting him for some sight seeing as well as flight training.

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.

Attributes
ACN	850356
Time
Date	200908
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	AEG.Airport
State Reference	NM
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Retractable Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 3.5 Flight Crew Total 339.2 Flight Crew Type 65.7
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

A single engine aircraft pilot misunderstood the local controller's traffic pattern entry instructions. After the error was recognized; the pilot was treated in an unprofessional manner by the controller.