Narrative:

The company I work for is a civilian contractor at a military installation and has obtained permission to land at mac dill air force base (mcf) underlying the class B airspace south of tampa; fl. I was in the process of taxiing to runway 04 at mcf when ground control said a 'gate hold' was now in effect due to communication failure with tampa. Ground control instructed me to continue taxiing to runway 04 if desired; but they did not know how long the delay would be. Mcf said tampa had a communication failure and they could not talk with tampa approach. A rain shower was moving toward the field from the north; and we would be departing the area to the south. I could depart VFR and pick up my IFR airborne if tampa was able to communicate with aircraft. After about 10 minutes I inquired if tampa had lost communication with aircraft and mcf replied they did not know they could not contact tampa. I looked in the AFD and found a number that got me to the TRACON at tpa and was able to talk with them. I advised that I would depart mcf VFR (I already had an IFR clearance; but was not cleared for takeoff IFR). I had checked the sectional and noted that I needed to be 1100 ft MSL or less for several miles to stay clear of the class B airspace at 1200 ft MSL. I advised mcf that I talked to tpa and gave them the phone number to contact them. I requested for a VFR departure and mcf told me to squawk 1200. I replied that tpa told me to keep my assigned transponder code. Mcf cleared me for takeoff and to remain at or below 1100 ft. After becoming airborne and turning to the southeast and level at an altitude of 1000 ft; I requested a frequency change. While still under the class B 1200 ft ceiling; mcf did not give me a frequency change immediately but instead issued a traffic advisory for opposite direction traffic (I think the target was at about 11 o'clock) and instructed me to climb to 1600 ft. I was still VFR and this would put me into the class B airspace VFR without any specific VFR ATC clearance to enter the class B airspace. There were some tall stacks and a rain shower in my 1-3 o'clock position; traffic avoidance system was issuing an alert for the advised traffic; I climbed into class B as instructed by mcf with no specific clearance to enter class B. I was issued a frequency change. Once I was clear of the traffic and on tpa approach/departure frequency; I descended back below the 1200 ft floor/ceiling of the class B airspace. Once clear of additional traffic; tpa issued me IFR clearance and a higher altitude. After I landed at my next destination; I called mcf tower on the phone and discussed the situation. Mcf tower said that they were talking to tpa (I'm not sure but I think by the phone number I gave them) at the time they issued me the climb to 1600 ft. But I did not know they were in contact with tpa. I was concerned if I had violated the class B airspace. Mcf asked if tpa has said anything about it and I replied no. So I came away from the occurrence not knowing what I could have done different giving the fact that the departure VFR had been made. If I didn't climb as instructed; I would have had a traffic conflict. I descended without clearance from my last assigned altitude of 1600 ft back to 1100 ft to clear the class B while still VFR. What I should have done is waited for mcf to contact tpa on the phone number I provided; and then I would have handled the IFR from the beginning.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Corporate Pilot with an IFR flight plan departed MCF VFR during a communications outage and was cleared by MCF into the TPA Class B airspace because of traffic. Uncertain about TPA TRACON clearance the pilot descended out of Class B after passing traffic.

Narrative: The company I work for is a civilian contractor at a military installation and has obtained permission to land at Mac Dill Air Force Base (MCF) underlying the Class B airspace south of Tampa; FL. I was in the process of taxiing to Runway 04 at MCF when Ground Control said a 'gate hold' was now in effect due to communication failure with Tampa. Ground Control instructed me to continue taxiing to Runway 04 if desired; but they did not know how long the delay would be. MCF said Tampa had a communication failure and they could not talk with Tampa Approach. A rain shower was moving toward the field from the north; and we would be departing the area to the south. I could depart VFR and pick up my IFR airborne if Tampa was able to communicate with aircraft. After about 10 minutes I inquired if Tampa had lost communication with aircraft and MCF replied they did not know they could not contact Tampa. I looked in the AFD and found a number that got me to the TRACON at TPA and was able to talk with them. I advised that I would depart MCF VFR (I already had an IFR clearance; but was not cleared for takeoff IFR). I had checked the sectional and noted that I needed to be 1100 FT MSL or less for several miles to stay clear of the Class B airspace at 1200 FT MSL. I advised MCF that I talked to TPA and gave them the phone number to contact them. I requested for a VFR departure and MCF told me to squawk 1200. I replied that TPA told me to keep my assigned transponder code. MCF cleared me for takeoff and to remain at or below 1100 FT. After becoming airborne and turning to the southeast and level at an altitude of 1000 FT; I requested a frequency change. While still under the Class B 1200 FT ceiling; MCF did not give me a frequency change immediately but instead issued a traffic advisory for opposite direction traffic (I think the target was at about 11 o'clock) and instructed me to climb to 1600 FT. I was still VFR and this would put me into the Class B airspace VFR without any specific VFR ATC clearance to enter the Class B airspace. There were some tall stacks and a rain shower in my 1-3 o'clock position; Traffic Avoidance System was issuing an alert for the advised traffic; I climbed into Class B as instructed by MCF with no specific clearance to enter Class B. I was issued a frequency change. Once I was clear of the traffic and on TPA approach/departure frequency; I descended back below the 1200 FT floor/ceiling of the Class B airspace. Once clear of additional traffic; TPA issued me IFR clearance and a higher altitude. After I landed at my next destination; I called MCF Tower on the phone and discussed the situation. MCF Tower said that they were talking to TPA (I'm not sure but I think by the phone number I gave them) at the time they issued me the climb to 1600 FT. But I did not know they were in contact with TPA. I was concerned if I had violated the Class B airspace. MCF asked if TPA has said anything about it and I replied no. So I came away from the occurrence not knowing what I could have done different giving the fact that the departure VFR had been made. If I didn't climb as instructed; I would have had a traffic conflict. I descended without clearance from my last assigned altitude of 1600 FT back to 1100 FT to clear the Class B while still VFR. What I should have done is waited for MCF to contact TPA on the phone number I provided; and then I would have handled the IFR from the beginning.

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.