Departure Taxiing
Whether in the air or on the ground it is important that the pilot have situational awareness. It is not enough to just know your position. You must know and anticipate the communications requirements of what lies ahead. If you are given a command, EXECUTE, then use the radio. It is just as easy to inadvertently break an FAR on the ground as in the air. The violation is far more likely to be noticed on the ground.

You should make any request for a taxi route or runway to ground on initial call up. An aircraft costs just as much for ground time as for airtime. Ask for a closer runway if it is better for your purposes and winds within your capability. Traffic permitting, you will be accommodated by your friendly ATC.

You are required to:
--Read back all runway hold short instructions. This must include your aircraft number and the taxiway or runway identified by ATC. You cannot move past the holding point until issued a clearance by ground. (This is the only time Ground Control uses the word 'cleared".) If you have any doubt as to what to do, ask ATC for help.

--Readback the taxi route given by ATC.

--Read back the name of the runway as given in your taxi instructions.

--Read back all runway crossing, holding, and takeoff clearances.

The actual departure is relatively simple since the active runway can be observed. However, it is necessary to discuss and practice the departure to be requested for the direction of flight. You must hear other traffic as they communicate. You must be aware as to the potential hazard caused by their present position and movement. You must study airport areas so as to be aware of where to look.

"Concord ground Cessna 1234X East ramp with (ATIS word)
request...if any"

When Ground replies:
"Cessna 34X taxi to 34L"
You are now required to respond with your identification and the runway as assigned:
"34X taxiing to 34L"

You have done your run-up well clear of taxiways and allowed maximum room in the area for other aircraft. You have faced the wind for `engine cooling'. Mandatory when you start flying high performance aircraft. After completion of the runup checklist and the pre-takeoff checklist you must contact the tower before taxiing out. If you know that other aircraft are ahead of you add the words 'in sequence' to the callup. Acknowledge any clearance with the word hold in it and repeat back the instruction.

Arrival Taxi
The transition from flight to ground control of an aircraft is a busy time for pilots. It is often just the moment that ATC advises that you should contact ground often along with other instructions, i.e.
...when clear
...hold short of...
...cross and contact ground...
...remain this frequency until...
...expedite...
and combinations of these.

The pilot is well advised to become familiar with the nuances of this transition. Remain on tower frequency until you are clear of the runway. You are not clear of the runway until you cross the hold bars. Exiting on intersecting runways without hold bars is a judgment situation as to how far is 'clear'.

After landing and clearing the runway by crossing the hold lines, you should wait for tower to direct a change of frequency. Determine your location before communicating. Have mike in left hand so that right hand is on throttle. If you are planning to be IFR rated get a headset and yoke mike.

You should wait for tower to direct a change of frequency. You should remain on the tower frequency until told to change, however, if the controller is very busy you might contact ground on your own. A judgment call. Try to face approaching traffic and get a clearance before moving.

If you are uncertain as to where to go, request taxi assistance. Determine your location before communicating. If you don't know where you are, say so and give any relevant information beginning with your last known position even if it was a departure point, your planned route. Describe buildings, nearby aircraft, signs, directions, painted lines or terrain.

"Concord ground Cessna 1234X holding short of the left
to transient parking unfamiliar"

Taxiing Problems
Forty-six percent of all aircraft accidents occur on the ground. A small percentage of these ground accidents occur due to runway incursions. An aircraft goes on to a runway where it does not belong. However, several hundred incursions occur every year that do not result in accidents. The pilots guilty of these incursions become subject to FAA and/or NTSB sanctions. A clearance to taxi to a runway allows you to cross all runways and taxiways on the way but does not allow you to go on the assigned runway or any parallels at any point.

The Four Causes of Runway Incursions Are:
1) Controller/operational,
2) Pilot factors,
3) Ground vehicles, and
4) Obstacles on runway.

Memory loss is the number one cause of controller errors. Distraction is the major cause of this loss of memory. Controllers may make a separation misjudgment by mistakenly making speed assumptions that are not there. Controller coordination or phraseology in the tower between local and ground can be a problem if an aircraft is cleared to taxi in front of a landing aircraft. The last area of causes is communication, which comprises a vast range of problems. Readback and hear back is a forever difficulty.

Pilots forget to do what they say they will do. All of the controller causes are compounded because the training levels of pilots are not as consistent as that of controllers. Pilots are more likely to have equipment difficulty. The biggest difference is situational awareness. Controllers know where they are. The pilot must form a mental picture of who is where in the air and on the ground. Pilots tend to get misplaced and lost. The more experienced the pilot the more ready he will be to accept controller taxi assistance. You can learn to anticipate what the controller is going to do. Do not accept a clearance which you believe will place you in harms way.

Side note:
Taxi directions are clearances even though the word clearance is omitted. If you are given a 'stop' during taxi you must be given a 'clearance' to proceed.

After landing
-- Exit the runway without delay at the first available taxiway or on a specified taxiway as instructed by ATC. If you need a long landing, just advise. Approval would depend on traffic volume. AIM 4-3-20a
-- After clearing the runway you landed on, hold and obtain taxi clearance. Same as taxiing to a runway, you must obtain a clearance from ground control after exiting a runway. AIM 4-3-20c, d; 4-3-18d(3)
-- If you have questions, just ask. ATC must know what you want to do before they can properly carry out their control duties. AIM 4-2-1b

 

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