A be-36 pilot was unable to contact ATC to cancel his IFR flight plan following his landing at an un...

Attributes
ACN	983934
Time
Date	201112
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	N90.TRACON
State Reference	NY
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 36
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Air/Ground Communication
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 75 Flight Crew Total 1400 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

When I landed at mgj I was unable to reach clearance on 123.85. I did not have cell phone with me and had to drive to my office (3 miles) to get my phone to call clearance to cancel IFR. I was just able to contact them before they called out search and rescue.it would seem logical that every airport should have some sort of public use phone even if it is restricted to calling 911 and the local controlling authority. It would be helpful if such phone were clearly identified; maybe near the fuel pumps or operations building. At mgj there is no external phone; the airport is unattended in the evening and there is no FBO on the field.in retrospect; I should have canceled in the air on final approach. Of course; the problem [with that] is; had there been an accident; no one would have had a reason to investigate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE-36 pilot was unable to contact ATC to cancel his IFR flight plan following his landing at an uncontrolled and unattended airport and had to drive to a location from which he could call. His call came just prior to ATC initiating Search and Rescue efforts.

Narrative: When I landed at MGJ I was unable to reach clearance on 123.85. I did not have cell phone with me and had to drive to my office (3 miles) to get my phone to call Clearance to cancel IFR. I was just able to contact them before they called out Search and Rescue.It would seem logical that every airport should have some sort of public use phone even if it is restricted to calling 911 and the local controlling authority. It would be helpful if such phone were clearly identified; maybe near the fuel pumps or operations building. At MGJ there is no external phone; the airport is unattended in the evening and there is no FBO on the field.In retrospect; I should have canceled in the air on final approach. Of course; the problem [with that] is; had there been an accident; no one would have had a reason to investigate.

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.

A be-36 pilot was unable to contact ATC to cancel his IFR flight plan following his landing at an uncontrolled and unattended airport and had to drive to a location from which he could call. His call came just prior to ATC initiating search and rescue efforts.