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What would you do in absence of a clearance ?

Following the thread on what should be understood as “join downwind” an interesting question popped up: what would you do in absence of a clearance ?

@Patrick wrote:

would you seriously by default “overshoot” the base leg (indefinitely?) if not specifically cleared to turn final

Normally you are supposed to to go as far as you received your clearance and not further.
While on downwind and not having received a clearance for base or till final, you could extend the downwind and call an end-of-downwind to remind your presence to the controller.
But if you are on base and the frequency is busy or the controller has forgotten you, what do you? Orbit? Turn final? Extend base beyond the runway ?
If you are on final and you do not get a landing clearance, I guess you just do a low pass and then a go around. Or should you do anything else ?

jfw
Belgium: EBGB (Grimbergen, Brussels) - EBNM (Namur), Belgium

On final without clearance you must go around. Not sure about the base/final – I would turn final and call the controller ASAP.

LSZH, LSZF, Switzerland

jfw wrote:

But if you are on base and the frequency is busy or the controller has forgotten you, what do you? Orbit? Turn final? Extend base beyond the runway ?

The only sensible answer is: Try to communicate. If the controller is so busy that you can’t get in the shortest of calls (“xyz turning final”) then you are at the wrong place at the wrong time… In all my flying, even VFR at busy airports like Amsterdam, this has not yet happened to me.
IFR, when vectored onto the equivalent of a base leg, you are not supposed to establish yourself on final but continue on the last assigned heading instead. I guess I would do the same when flying VFR.

jfw wrote:

If you are on final and you do not get a landing clearance,…

… you go around. Why do a low pass first?

Last Edited by what_next at 14 Mar 13:04
EDDS - Stuttgart

jfw wrote:

Normally you are supposed to to go as far as you received your clearance and not further.

That seems clear, but I think the heart of this question is:

Is the traffic pattern one thing you get cleared for and the next thing is the landing – or do you get cleared for each leg of the pattern?

In my understanding, a clearance such as “enter traffic pattern”, or for that matter, “enter base” (i.e. enter traffic pattern via base) clears you to, well, be in the traffic pattern, which consists of a downwind leg, base leg, final etc.

Of course, as what’s next has suggested, communication is key – always – but in the absence of that, I would continue flying the pattern until short final and then go-around. I would not extend my downwind unless specifically asked and extending base is something that I would find particularly odd. Of course, if I listen in to traffic and I’m on base and there is an airliner on short final I would not insist on any of this and interfere with the big iron before further clarification..

Hungriger Wolf (EDHF), Germany

what_next wrote:

Why do a low pass first?

You can still hope to get a landing clearance no ? So you could continue to approach. Once it is clear that you will not get the landing clearance you can do a go-around

jfw
Belgium: EBGB (Grimbergen, Brussels) - EBNM (Namur), Belgium

This is yet another example of where the Americans, with their experience of actually flying aeroplanes rather than just talking about it, have it right. Approaching a field with ATC, you will often be ‘cleared to land’ on initial contact or at some point before you are anywhere near final. And if unsure, a downwind or similar call will also be met with ‘clear to land’ even if there are other traffic ahead of you. So you are always confident that you are cleared to continue the pattern all the way.

Also, joining the pattern is standardised on the join ‘midfield 45 deg to downwind’ where midfield means not more than 2mi, and more likely 1mi, from the runway. So you always know where to be, and perhaps more importantly, where the other traffic are. UK practices like joining long downwind are discouraged for the same reason – they don’t know where you are, and neither does the other traffic.

Of course they don’t have (except rarely) the issue of complainers, fuelled by ludicrous house price gains if they can suppress aviation, imposing wierd and wonderful ‘circuits’ and other shambolic joining proceedures on GA.

EGBW / KPRC, United Kingdom

Aveling wrote:

a downwind or similar call will also be met with ‘clear to land’ even if there are other traffic ahead of you. So you are always confident that you are cleared to continue the pattern all the way.

That makes perfect sense now !
I have always been wondering why they issue a “clear to land” that early while there is other traffic in front but your explanation explains it. After all if there is an issue ATC can always cancel the clearance.

jfw
Belgium: EBGB (Grimbergen, Brussels) - EBNM (Namur), Belgium

At my homebase, I get cleared for downwind and then to land, I am expected to know when to turn base and final. If the controller wants something different, he will tell me to either “continue on downwind until advised” or “turn base now” or whatever suits his needs. Of course I will call in once on downwind, before turning base and final. I would not think that the instruction “join downwind” implies a clearance limit. Often enough I also get the instruction “join .. downind runway .. and report end of downwind” or something like that, which is what I’d then do.

Communication will sort 99% of these things.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

This is a really tricky situation.

What I do, if the place gets a bit “hot” is I leave the circuit and probably leave the ATZ, departing it straight out in some direction. I do this when I get a TCAS alert and can’t see the other traffic (and often ATC can’t see it either because when away from the circuit there could be anybody there…).

If I was on LH downwind then I will proceed to base anyway (you don’t need a clearance for that) and if I then can’t continue to land I will go around at circuit height, slightly to the right of the runway so I can hopefully see climbing traffic. And make radio calls about it.

On other occassions, a right orbit is ok for spacing, but I would do it well away from the circuit otherwise when the orbit is completed you are having to potentially merge with circuit traffic.

I don’t think there is a “right way” for all cases.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Mooney_Driver wrote:

Communication will sort 99% of these things.

Less communication would do it even better.

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