Narrative:

I was the captain of a learjet model 55; a part 135 charter. While ascending to fl 390; I was talking with center when climbing out of FL320; I had lost use of my audio panel and could not transmit nor receive center any longer. The first officer informed me that he had difficulty working the audio panel and said there might be a problem. I then had established cruise at FL390 and set the autopilot to help troubleshoot the problem. Once I had realized that the panel was not functioning; I had squawked 7600. I then flew at my last assigned altitude; which was the flight level filed; and continued to fly my last assigned route which was given and proceed according to my flight plan. The first officer and I had tried to further troubleshoot the audio panel trying to establish communication with center. The conditions at altitude were VMC; and I had made use of all available lighting on the aircraft and use of the onboard TCAS system; while also maintaining visual situational awareness outside of the aircraft. After 2 hours of cruise; we still had no established communication with center; and we were approaching our descent point. We had calculated our descent to arrive at our destination at our ETA as per our flight plan; and at a point that was listed on our flight plan as top-of-descent (TOD). Before initiating our descent at our TOD; I had a traffic advisory (TA) on my TCAS which indicated an aircraft at our 4 o'clock position; 3;000 ft feet below us. I established positive identification with the traffic; and followed him with my eyes and with the aid of the TCAS. Once I saw the traffic was behind us at our 8 o'clock position while still maintaining visual contact; I squawked 'identify' on my transponder (7600); and established a descent (approximately 3;000 ft/MM). On our descent out of FL300; our radio panel had come back on-line. We had center frequency tuned-in to our communications just in case it was to come back. We got this frequency off of our destination's approach plates. We re-established communication with center. We were given a heading to turn to and a new squawk code. We were then informed that we were 'radar contact.' center then gave us an arrival into our destination airport. We had positive communication with center and with tower the rest of the way. Once we landed safely; we were then told to call tower and center. I was also informed to call the other centers involved as well.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Lear 55's VHF Com radios failed while climbing to FL390 so the crew followed lost com procedures; flew the filed routing; began the descent at the filed TOD and at the anticipated time. During the descent the radios began functioning for normal ATC communications.

Narrative: I was the Captain of a Learjet Model 55; a Part 135 charter. While ascending to FL 390; I was talking with Center when climbing out of FL320; I had lost use of my audio panel and could not transmit nor receive Center any longer. The First Officer informed me that he had difficulty working the audio panel and said there might be a problem. I then had established cruise at FL390 and set the autopilot to help troubleshoot the problem. Once I had realized that the panel was not functioning; I had squawked 7600. I then flew at my last assigned altitude; which was the flight level filed; and continued to fly my last assigned route which was given and proceed according to my flight plan. The First Officer and I had tried to further troubleshoot the audio panel trying to establish communication with Center. The conditions at altitude were VMC; and I had made use of all available lighting on the aircraft and use of the onboard TCAS system; while also maintaining visual situational awareness outside of the aircraft. After 2 hours of cruise; we still had no established communication with Center; and we were approaching our descent point. We had calculated our descent to arrive at our destination at our ETA as per our flight plan; and at a point that was listed on our flight plan as Top-of-Descent (TOD). Before initiating our descent at our TOD; I had a traffic advisory (TA) on my TCAS which indicated an aircraft at our 4 o'clock position; 3;000 FT feet below us. I established positive identification with the traffic; and followed him with my eyes and with the aid of the TCAS. Once I saw the traffic was behind us at our 8 o'clock position while still maintaining visual contact; I squawked 'IDENT' on my transponder (7600); and established a descent (approximately 3;000 FT/MM). On our descent out of FL300; our radio panel had come back on-line. We had Center Frequency tuned-in to our communications just in case it was to come back. We got this frequency off of our destination's approach plates. We re-established communication with Center. We were given a heading to turn to and a new squawk code. We were then informed that we were 'Radar Contact.' Center then gave us an arrival into our destination airport. We had positive communication with Center and with Tower the rest of the way. Once we landed safely; we were then told to call Tower and Center. I was also informed to call the other Centers involved as well.

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.