Narrative:

Departed for fsm. We received flight following from razorback departure. After contacting departure we were told to contact razorback approach. I read back the command and returned to razorback approach. I made multiple calls; more than 8; and heard no responses. When we were about 7 miles outside of fsm with the field in sight I tried to contact fort smith tower. I made several calls to the tower with no response. I turned back to razorback approach and tried two more times. I then turned to the fsm ATIS and heard nothing. At this point I was 3-4 miles out and I squawked 7600 in the transponder. I entered the field at a 45 degree angle and flew a right upwind for runway 25; all the while I was making radio calls as if the tower could hear me. I continuously scanned the pattern for traffic and saw a high wing cessna departing runway 25 and climbing out which was no factor. I also saw a cessna high wing holding short of runway 25 so I knew the tower saw my squawk code. There was also another high wing cessna holding short of the intersection on the north side of runway 25. I called out that I was crossing the thresh hold of runway 7. I then turned downwind for runway 25. I was at an altitude of 2000 feet when I passed by the tower. I rocked my wings and a steady green light was shining through the tower window. I confirmed this by turning my landing light off then on. I then proceeded to land as normal. I taxied off the runway to parking and immediately called the tower and razorback approach to clarify what had happened. Both the tower and razorback approach said the situation was handled very well. I then called the owner and chief CFI of my company; and told him of the situation. He advised me to go outside and start the engine to determine if the battery was dead. It was not. I called him back and told him the plane started fine; and then I asked him what I should do. I presented the option for someone to come pick us up; but he assured me that it would be ok to fly back with no radio's. He explained that I would need to call razorback and the tower to get a squawk code and everything would go smoothly. I made a call to the fsm tower. A woman answered the phone and I told her my situation. She advised me that this operation would be permitted and gave me the squawk code. She said to point the aircraft at the tower when ready to taxi and she would flash a green light at us. Then taxi and hold short of runway 25 and point the plane at her and she would again flash us the green light. After departure turn right on course and proceed VFR. I told her ETA was xa:40 pm. We arrived at the airport around xa:36 pm and preflighted the aircraft. Around xa:48 the engine was started and we taxied to the edge of the taxiway and pointed at the tower. At this time squawk was entered as requested earlier. The steady green light was shown and we taxied on to taxiway alpha. At this time we reviewed the plan of action when we hold short and also after departure. We approached the intersection of runway 19-1 and taxiway alpha and held short for 10 seconds. We did a rolling run-up to save time as we did not want to be caught in the dark. We held short of runway 25 and pointed at the tower. A steady green light was displayed and I confirmed this with the PIC. We then turned the aircraft to face toward the end of runway 25 to check for traffic. No traffic was seen so we rolled out onto runway 25. We applied power gradually to catch any last adverse light signal if it was given. No traffic was seen in front of the aircraft at this time. We climbed to 500 feet after field elevation and turned right at the end of the runway. Our heading was around 018 to avoid towers in the area. After 10 minutes of flight we turned to a more direct heading of 010 and headed toward the drake VOR. We entered the pattern at our home base and received a steady green light so we rocked the wings and turned the landing light off and on. After landing three ground crew members approached us and said we need to call this number which was presented on a green sticky note. I called the number and which turned out to be razorback approach. They said our flight was under investigation due to the fact that we taxied with no clearance from the tower and we also departed with no clearance. The claim was made that we departed into oncoming traffic and we forced the traffic to divert from their plan of flight. At that point I explained on the phone what I have written.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation aircraft described loss of radio event; both as an arrival and subsequent departure; all allegedly coordinated with ATC as appropriate; ATC's questions regarding the event were like due to failed coordination.

Narrative: Departed for FSM. We received flight following from Razorback departure. After contacting departure we were told to contact Razorback approach. I read back the command and returned to Razorback approach. I made multiple calls; more than 8; and heard no responses. When we were about 7 miles outside of FSM with the field in sight I tried to contact Fort Smith tower. I made several calls to the tower with no response. I turned back to Razorback Approach and tried two more times. I then turned to the FSM ATIS and heard nothing. At this point I was 3-4 miles out and I Squawked 7600 in the transponder. I entered the field at a 45 degree angle and flew a right upwind for Runway 25; all the while I was making radio calls as if the Tower could hear me. I continuously scanned the pattern for traffic and saw a high wing Cessna departing Runway 25 and climbing out which was no factor. I also saw a Cessna high wing holding short of Runway 25 so I knew the Tower saw my squawk code. There was also another high wing Cessna holding short of the intersection on the north side of Runway 25. I called out that I was crossing the thresh hold of Runway 7. I then turned downwind for Runway 25. I was at an altitude of 2000 feet when I passed by the Tower. I rocked my wings and a steady green light was shining through the tower window. I confirmed this by turning my landing light off then on. I then proceeded to land as normal. I taxied off the runway to parking and immediately called the Tower and Razorback Approach to clarify what had happened. Both the Tower and Razorback Approach said the situation was handled very well. I then called the owner and chief CFI of my company; and told him of the situation. He advised me to go outside and start the engine to determine if the battery was dead. It was not. I called him back and told him the plane started fine; and then I asked him what I should do. I presented the option for someone to come pick us up; but he assured me that it would be OK to fly back with no radio's. He explained that I would need to call Razorback and the Tower to get a squawk code and everything would go smoothly. I made a call to the FSM Tower. A woman answered the phone and I told her my situation. She advised me that this operation would be permitted and gave me the squawk code. She said to point the aircraft at the tower when ready to taxi and she would flash a green light at us. Then taxi and hold short of Runway 25 and point the plane at her and she would again flash us the green light. After departure turn right on course and proceed VFR. I told her ETA was XA:40 PM. We arrived at the airport around XA:36 PM and preflighted the aircraft. Around XA:48 the engine was started and we taxied to the edge of the taxiway and pointed at the tower. At this time squawk was entered as requested earlier. The steady green light was shown and we taxied on to taxiway Alpha. At this time we reviewed the plan of action when we hold short and also after departure. We approached the intersection of Runway 19-1 and taxiway Alpha and held short for 10 seconds. We did a rolling run-up to save time as we did not want to be caught in the dark. We held short of Runway 25 and pointed at the Tower. A steady green light was displayed and I confirmed this with the PIC. We then turned the aircraft to face toward the end of Runway 25 to check for traffic. No traffic was seen so we rolled out onto Runway 25. We applied power gradually to catch any last adverse light signal if it was given. No traffic was seen in front of the aircraft at this time. We climbed to 500 feet after field elevation and turned right at the end of the runway. Our heading was around 018 to avoid towers in the area. After 10 minutes of flight we turned to a more direct heading of 010 and headed toward the Drake VOR. We entered the pattern at our home base and received a steady green light so we rocked the wings and turned the landing light off and on. After landing three ground crew members approached us and said we need to call this number which was presented on a green sticky note. I called the number and which turned out to be Razorback Approach. They said our flight was under investigation due to the fact that we taxied with no clearance from the Tower and we also departed with no clearance. The claim was made that we departed into oncoming traffic and we forced the traffic to divert from their plan of flight. At that Point I explained on the phone what I have written.

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.