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Air carrier captain reports that west bound data link clearances from shanwick typically end somewhere in sondrestrom airspace; with no instructions for obtaining further clearance. Further clearance can be obtained from reykjavik; but requires crew initiative and significant time.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 955354 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201106 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | EGGX.ARTCC |
| State Reference | FO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Check Pilot Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 25000 Flight Crew Type 6000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types |
Narrative:
Once again; shanwick clearance delivery gave us a partial datalink clearance that ended at n70w040; rather than a complete clearance to edmonton airspace. This is happening often; and requires the crew to make further clearance requests to iceland radio for the remainder of the oceanic clearance. The issue is that nowhere on the datalink clearance does it say it is a partial clearance or that further clearance is required. This would seem like a very easy issue for shanwick to address; by simply adding free text such as: 'further clearance required from iceland radio.' this time I called the shanwick clearance delivery VHF frequency over england and asked why the clearance was only a partial clearance. The answer I felt was vague and insufficient and had to do with the northerly routing out of their airspace. This is a setup for crews who are not familiar with the area to not get the remainder of the clearance from iceland radio. I have found I have to query them for it; as they are not volunteering it on initial contact. Sometimes it takes nearly an hour to get iceland to get the final clearance.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reports that west bound data link clearances from Shanwick typically end somewhere in Sondrestrom airspace; with no instructions for obtaining further clearance. Further clearance can be obtained from Reykjavik; but requires crew initiative and significant time.
Narrative: Once again; Shanwick Clearance Delivery gave us a partial datalink clearance that ended at N70W040; rather than a complete clearance to Edmonton airspace. This is happening often; and requires the crew to make further clearance requests to Iceland radio for the remainder of the Oceanic clearance. The issue is that nowhere on the datalink clearance does it say it is a partial clearance or that further clearance is required. This would seem like a VERY EASY issue for Shanwick to address; by simply adding free text such as: 'further clearance required from Iceland radio.' This time I called the Shanwick Clearance Delivery VHF frequency over England and asked why the clearance was only a partial clearance. The answer I felt was vague and insufficient and had to do with the northerly routing out of their airspace. This is a setup for crews who are not familiar with the area to not get the remainder of the clearance from Iceland radio. I have found I have to query them for it; as they are not volunteering it on initial contact. Sometimes it takes nearly an hour to get Iceland to get the final clearance.
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.