Air carrier first officer reports communication difficulties during approach at mtpp. A holding clea...

Narrative:

Cleared for ganiv 1A ILS approach direct avoli by mtpp center. Abeam savar; checked in with mtpp approach. The radios were scratchy and mtpp was hard to understand but I read back what I heard; 'cleared for ganiv 1A ILS 10 approach.' did not hear or read back any holding instructions; inside avoli on the arc; had to ask mtpp for lower several times. Finally as we passed ganiv; I told them if we were going to be able to do the approach we would need lower; we were at 5000 ft. A minute or so later they came back and told us we had been cleared to hold at ganiv. We turned left and proceeded back toward the holding pattern. They then cleared us for the visual from our position. We completed our 360 and picked up the approach just outside the 12.3 DME FAF at 4000 ft. An uneventful landing was completed. Both pilots were monitoring the radios; neither one of us heard any holding clearance nor efc (expect further clearance) issued to our flight; however we did hear the holding clearance issued to the aircraft behind us. The only traffic calls were for VFR traffic; which would remain south of the approach course. Traffic south of the approach course is normal at mtpp. Mtpp approach really needs better radio equipment and perhaps a radar.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier First Officer reports communication difficulties during approach at MTPP. A holding clearance was apparently issued but not received by the crew and Approach was not aware until the crew requested lower to complete their landing.

Narrative: Cleared for GANIV 1A ILS Approach direct AVOLI by MTPP Center. Abeam SAVAR; checked in with MTPP Approach. The radios were scratchy and MTPP was hard to understand but I read back what I heard; 'cleared for GANIV 1A ILS 10 Approach.' Did not hear or read back any holding instructions; inside AVOLI on the arc; had to ask MTPP for lower several times. Finally as we passed GANIV; I told them if we were going to be able to do the approach we would need lower; we were at 5000 FT. A minute or so later they came back and told us we had been cleared to hold at GANIV. We turned left and proceeded back toward the holding pattern. They then cleared us for the visual from our position. We completed our 360 and picked up the approach just outside the 12.3 DME FAF at 4000 FT. An uneventful landing was completed. Both pilots were monitoring the radios; neither one of us heard any holding clearance nor EFC (expect further clearance) issued to our flight; however we did hear the holding clearance issued to the aircraft behind us. The only traffic calls were for VFR traffic; which would remain south of the approach course. Traffic south of the approach course is normal at MTPP. MTPP Approach really needs better radio equipment and perhaps a radar.

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	887146
Time
Date	201005
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	MTPP.Airport
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR GANIV 1A
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Air carrier first officer reports communication difficulties during approach at mtpp. A holding clearance was apparently issued but not received by the crew and approach was not aware until the crew requested lower to complete their landing.