How stupid is it to have a prohibited zone on an ILS?
Well only really an issue on Sundays (or when Calais tower not there) if you choose not to speak to Lille.
So they did simulated ILS in VFR? Why would you not talk to ATC when you're shooting instrument approaches, even when just simulated?
Can anybody see the earlier-mentioned mandatory Lille contact requirement on that plate?
I suspect that, as usual with these reports, there is more to this than meets the eye.
The LF(P) is shown on VFR charts too, and they must have been flying with one or the other at least. Nobody is that stupid, especially after 10 years of this stuff.
Well you have to talk to someone to get cleared through the prohibited area. And I have to say in my experience Lillie approach are very helpful.
Sure, but my "drift" is that this is probably what happened, on a typical VFR flight UK to France
They were talking to some French FIS frequency after crossing into French airspace (I always thought that this is mandatory when crossing national borders VFR but in reality nobody in these parts seems to care, and most people flying UK to say Le Touquet just call up LT Tower, after leaving the UK)
They were talking to Calais Tower as their first French point of contact
They asked if they could do the ILS
Calais Tower told them they can
Jepp is the de facto world standard and nowhere is it obvious that Lille is the only authority for clearing through the zone and not speaking to Lille is going to get you arrested.
Does the AIP plate say you will get arrested if you don't talk to Lille?
On an IFR flight, one would naturally speak to Lille because they appear on the plate as Approach, which is your first point of contact when IFR and when coming off the enroute section.
But in reality you will call whoever the enroute controller tells you to contact...
Obviously if they just quietly turned up at LFAC and flew the ILS non-radio, then I can understand the reported furore, but that would take two complete idiots in the cockpit, which is unlikely since presumably at least one had a CPL/IR (IFR training and getting paid).
The Jepp chart is not clear on this point. Even the AIP chart is slightly misleading however the current notams make the position very clear. Any VFR of IFR training outside Calais ATS hours requires PPR from Lille.
They were talking to Calais Tower as their first French point of contact
Then Lille Approach would have picked up the phone and asked Calais Tower if they know about this airplane approaching the prohibited zone. They see it coming and they surely know about this particular difficulty in Calais.
The scenario sounds more plausible if Calais Tower was closed at the time.
Calais Tower is closed on Sundays. The French FIS for that area is Lille SIV 120.275, which is also the Lille approach frequency.
Does anyone know whether Calais charges for non-ATS IAPs.
They do not charge for approaches out of hours. No idea during ATC hours.
Out of hours, you call Lille, they clear you to start the approach and through the prohibited area. If you are talking to them or Calais tower the problem does not arise. If you treat it as an uncontrolled field out of hours then choose to fly VFR through a prohibited area without a clearance, I assume that is when you get a problem.
I am all for conspiracy theories and giving pilots the benefit of the doubt. We don't know the details in this case. But I have been there three times in the past six months, always on a Sunday and always flown the LPV approach which has exactly the same issue as you cross the P area after DIPKA. It just isn't that complicated. They clear you to start the approach, tell you to call on unicom when established and phone them on the ground to cancel your flight plan. I don't think it matters whether you talk to Lille or Calais tower. I assume either can clear you through the area. The AIP plate doesn't mandate Lille it says (re the prohibited area): Entry possible to IFR flights with ATC clearance and Powerplant : overflying prohibited in case of visual approach.
The most likely scenario here is
