I wanted to share with you what happened to me this weekend at EBCI with a rental plane…
Everything was fine until something odd happened:
At the holding point I reported ready for departure to the tower
I received a take-off clearance which I read-back before entering on the runway and aligning before take-off
When performing the last checks (runway, gyro, lights, transponder) I got a “F-xyw How do you read”.
Quite puzzled I assumed that my read-back did no go through very well. I responded “reading you 5”.
Unsure of what was happening I eventually decided to start my take-off roll.
Just after take-off I got again a “F-xyw How do you read”. I answered again and inquired how the tower did read me…. no answer….
At that stage I was lost…. the radio was working fine before, I was on the correct frequency, I did not change anything….
I finally discovered that the PTT buton was unreliable. I sometimes got a “Tx” sign on the radio sometimes not.
I got a “heavy” discussion on with the controller on the fact that I took off with-out read-back (well with a read-back but which did not pass through)… I apologized and for the next transmission I confirmed with the radio “Tx” that I was effectively transmitting.
My question: Am I at fault taking off (after all I had a take-off clearance) ? Sensing a radio issue (“how do you read”) should I have taxied back off the runway and sorting the things out before takeoff ? Should I have put 7600 in the transponder (and take-off or go off the runway) ?
Basically how would you act in a similar case ?
Any views on this is more than welcome… I obviously completed a trouble report for the plane and called the tower afterwards to apologize. Should I do anything else ?
Thanks in advance…
jfw wrote:
Am I at fault taking off (after all I had a take-off clearance) ?
Just my private opinion (I really have no idea where to look this one up…): No, you were not at fault. You had received and read-back a clearance and acted according to it.
jfw wrote:
Basically how would you act in a similar case ?
Since I always plan to land at the end of a flight and that usually happens at controlled airfields where radio communication is mandatory, I would not have taken off if in doubt about my transmitting capabilities.
what_next wrote:
You had received and read-back a clearance and acted according to it
Well, They jut did not heardmy read-back 
So not sure you could consider that there was a read-back…
what_next wrote:
I would not have taken off if in doubt
What would you have done ? Just roll off the runway and try to solve the radio issue at the holding point ?
As there is no response to a readback, how could you know he didnt hear it? You were cleared and took off.
Personally when the how do you read came I would have clarified before rolling but it is impossible to judge as we weren’t there.
If ATC does not hear your readback of a clearance they are required to issue the clearance again, or otherwise prompt you.
That “error checking” often does not take place where you are speaking English and ATC ELP (English language proficiency) is limited, however.
Not hindered by profound knowledge of the various regulations in place – there’s several people round here much more qualified! – but combining my little knowledge with my little logics:
how would you act in a similar case ?
I cannot really say, flying in a rather different ambient. But I would certainly check for myself:
My question: Am I at fault taking off (after all I had a take-off clearance) ?
The simple answer is Yes. PANS-ATM (ICAO Doc 4444). requires that a take off clearance be read back and positively acknowledged. In this case it was not acknowledged so you should not have taken off.
If you had taken off and then experienced the problem, you should follow your clearance and then follow the Communication Failure procedure.
I experienced a similar situation last year witha PPT switch anda fire vehicle was sent out to escort us back to parking.
Tumbleweed wrote:
The simple answer is Yes. PANS-ATM (ICAO Doc 4444). requires that a take off clearance be read back and positively acknowledged. In this case it was not acknowledged so you should not have taken off.
What does positively acknowledged mean? If you are cleared for takeoff and read it back, ATC does not acknowledge your read back.
Tumbleweed wrote:
The simple answer is Yes. PANS-ATM (ICAO Doc 4444). requires that a take off clearance be read back and positively acknowledged. In this case it was not acknowledged so you should not have taken off.
Huh? I don’t think I’ve ever had a the readback of a take-off clearance acknowledged anywhere. I find the question ‘how do you read’ rather odd, as it doesn’t really mean anything in this situation. If the controller didn’t hear you, then he should have said so or cancelled the clearance if he was in any doubt about your radio.
Thanks for the input.
In the aftermath I agree that I should have clarified before taking off… but the question remains (in absence of a ATC clear-off cancellation) how should I have reacted ? just roll-off of the runway to the holding point and look at was happening ?
Radio issue came to me as a surprise as it was working well (taxi clearance, take clearance)… had no 2nd radio (which would not help in casu as the issue was with the PPT button).
First lesson learned:
