Page 20 - Volume 20 No. 6

Twin Proficiency:
by Thomas P. Turner
I Are You Clear?
recently saw a near-collision on a runway, between cancel the IFR flight plan and operate the transponder a business jet and a corporate turboprop. on the appropriate VFR code. An IFR clearance may
I was in the right seat of a Beechcraft Bonanza A36, instructing a pilot I’d first taught 25 years ago. To our right, on the ramp, the pilot of a Piaggio P180 Avanti was starting up. We taxied to the run-up pad. The Piaggio pilot, apparently alone in the aircraft, taxied past us and stopped just short of the end of the runway.
The weather was 1,100 overcast, visibility greater than 10 miles. Like most pilots departing Wichita/ Colonel James Jabara airport that morning, we would call Clearance Delivery through a remote outlet on 125.0 to get our Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) clearance. At this non-towered airport, nestled in a cluster of airports in or near the busy Class C airspace, this clearance includes instructions to hold for release and contact Approach Control on 134.8 when ready to take off.
For pilots not familiar with this procedure, when you call for release the controller will determine whether there is other IFR traffic in the immediate area. If there is none, Air Traffic Control (ATC) will release the aircraft, i.e., permit you to depart on your IFR clearance. If there is other IFR traffic passing nearby or on the approach, ATC will not release you. You’ll need to wait on the ground, ready to go, while monitoring the Approach frequency until the controller calls back with your release after the traffic clears. Section 5-2-4 of the Aeronautical Information Manual describes the term this way:
HOLD FOR RELEASE: ATC may issue “hold for release” instructions in a clearance to delay an aircraft’s departure for traffic management reasons (i.e., weather, traffic volume, etc.). When ATC states in the clearance, “hold for release,” the pilot may not depart utilizing that instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance until
a release time or additional instructions are issued by ATC. In addition, ATC will include departure delay information in conjunction with “hold for release” instructions. The ATC instruction, “hold for release,” applies to the IFR clearance and does not prevent the pilot from departing under visual flight rules (VFR). However, prior to takeoff the pilot should
18 • TWIN & TURBINE
not be available after departure.
The Avanti pilot was undoubtedly monitoring 134.8 awaiting release. My student switched to 125.0 to pick up our clearance, but we were still monitoring Unicom (122.7) as well. About then, the pilot of a Cessna Citation reported on Unicom that he was on a four-mile final. He had broken out of the overcast, shining a constellation of pulsing and fixed landing lights. The Citation pilot called at two miles out, and again when he was on a one-mile final.
The Citation jet was within a quarter-mile of the runway when the Piaggio pilot powered up and taxied onto the runway. I suspect he had received his departure release from ATC (on 134.8); he made no call on Unicom (122.7). The unique pusher turboprop aligned with the runway centerline and, without pause, began its takeoff roll. The Citation pilot had no choice but to execute a go-around, side-stepping to the left to avoid the Piaggio as the turboprop climbed.
My student and I taxied to just short of the runway and called for our release...still monitoring Unicom also. As we waited–the Citation came back around visually in a low circuit of the traffic pattern, and another IFR Bonanza was inbound on the approach–my student said, “I bet that Piaggio pilot feels bad about pulling out right in front of the jet.” I replied, “I bet the Piaggio pilot doesn’t have a clue the Citation was even there.”
Unique departure
The unique requirements of obtaining an IFR release at a nontowered airport create a communication challenge. Traffic detection and avoidance demand, however, that you make the effort. An IFR release requires you take
JUNE 2016