Flight Follow and Handoff to Class D

10 Answers

1. 
   

   
   

   Jason Schappert on May 13, 2011

   Randy,
   You don’t need to cancel flight following. In fact your approach controller will most likely hand you off to the appropriate tower and you would treat it just like a normal handoff.
   You’ll keep your squawk all the way to the ground unless other wise told by the tower or approach controller.
   If you’re curious to learn more about class D radio communications or VFR flight following handoffs I have two videos that show this in great detail below
   Class D Radio Communications
   VFR Flight Following Handoffs
   -Jason

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2. 
   

   
   

   Randy Walton on May 13, 2011

   Just want to make sure I am clear on your response. I was recently flying from Florida into PDK in Atlanta. Had flight following and was about to enter the Class D airspace and had NOT been handed off by the controller. I quickly cancelled flight following and called the tower. If I had not done so would my contact with Atlanta approach constituted radio contact with the Class D tower?

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3. 
   

   
   

   Nathan Parker on May 13, 2011

   Randy:
    
   There is a big of legal ambiguity on this topic.  First, in the ATC Handbook, it says:
    
   b. Coordinate with the appropriate control tower for transit authorization when you are providing radar traffic advisory service to an aircraft that will enteranother facility’s airspace.
   
   NOTE−The pilot is not expected to obtain his/her ownauthorization through each area when in contact with aradar facility.
   c. Transfer communications to the appropriatefacility, if required, prior to operation within a surfacearea for which the tower has responsibility.
    
   However, there is a FAA Letter of Interpretation concerning Class C where the author expressed the view that getting flight following from center did not relieve the pilot from his communication requirements with the Class C approach control.  Since the communication requirements of C and D are the same, it follows that the interpretation would apply to Class D as well.

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4. 
   

   
   

   Randy Walton on May 13, 2011

   Thanks Nathan, that makes sense. I have had a similar situation with a Class C airport nearby as well. Oddly though, we have a couple of airports with TRSA’s near us and they have always made the handoff well in advance of the TRSA, which seems odd as it is voluntary.

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5. 
   

   
   

   RM on May 13, 2011

   First of all hreat question. Second i commend You for doing FF and not being afraid to do FF.

   As Jason said normally they hand you off. VFR flight following is a priveledge and truly is based on the controllers work load. They are not obligated to ensure you are keeping out of airspace or restricted areas or weather or traffic separation. The only folks who get this treatment are IFR traffic

   I have had controllers do everything and then I have had some do little to nothing and forget me all together.

   A word of advice is you are responsible for not
   violating fars and the rules etc. The best thing to do is learn to anticipate what comes next, have
   great radio communications listen and be curteous.

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6. 
   

   
   

   Randy Walton on May 13, 2011

   Great response! Thanks guys!
   BTW, Jason, love the videos. Keep them coming.

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7. Best Answer
   
   

   
   

   Kent Shook on May 13, 2011

   This is one of those “everyone’s responsible” situations. The Center or Approach controller should hand you off to the tower, but if they don’t, it’s ALSO your responsibility to make sure you don’t enter the class D until you’re in contact with the tower. 
    
   One thing that you can do to gently “nudge” the radar controller: By the time you’re approaching the class D, you should have the airport in sight. If you do, you can just say “Approach, Bugsmasher 12Alpha, field in sight” and you’ll almost certainly get the reply “12Alpha, roger, contact tower on <frequency>.”
    
   If it’s so busy on the Center/Approach frequency and you can’t get a word in edgewise, assuming you’re clear of any other airspace such as an overlying Bravo or Charlie, just make a turn to the side so you don’t bust the Delta, squawk VFR, and call the tower as if you hadn’t been on flight following.
    

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8. 
   

   
   

   Matthew Waugh on May 15, 2011

   To note that the last sentence of the second to last paragraph of the interpretation says:
   “However, the FAA does recognize that there could be circumstances that mitigate the violation depending on the actual contents of the two-way communication between the pilot and the Center.”
   Which sort of says to me that the Asst. Chief Counsel who wrote it is going “yeh, that all does seem a little stupid doesn’t it, if you get caught by this, and you were pretty clear with Center about where you were going, you’ll probably be OK.”
    
   But by the letter of the law – you are responsible not only for being in touch with ATC, but being in touch with the RIGHT ATC.

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9. 
   

   
   

   Heather McNevin on Jun 18, 2011

   I will only speak as to how I run my flight following traffic, but I advise them of any special use airspace (MOA, restricted, prohibited, TFR, etc) and keep them out of it if necessary by providing suggested headings.  I also wont let them fly into a thunderstorm, although it is not my responsibility to do so.  I’ll keep them advised of the weather and traffic.  While getting flight following for assistance in traffic observation is important, it is just one of the services I’m providing as a controller.
   Approach airspace is very defined, although not to the pilot.  Every controller has specific boundaries on their scopes that show who is responsible for aircraft in that area.  This is true for TRSA’s and all.  Prior to that boundary I will ship aircraft from Center (me) to the approach control.  If its late at night and I am working with a VFR tower and I have an aircraft that will go through class D surface area on its way to whereever, I will call the tower controller and point out (notify) that controller about that aircraft and ask if there are any conditions in which I need to adhere in order for my aircraft to enter their airspace. 
   If you are close to an approach/tower/center facility, I’d highly recommend setting up a tour.  You can get numbers to call from FSS.  It must be set up in advance (security) and you will need a govt ID.  Go talk to the controllers and see what things look like on the other side of the scope!

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10. 
    

    
    

    Gregory Thomas on Aug 13, 2011

    I was on flight following to KSBP, a class D airport.  The approach controller told me to contact the tower at 5 miles and at 2000 AGL.  I switched to tower, which I had pre-loaded in my standby Comm, listened on the radio for a few seconds to make sure I was not stepping on anyone, made the radio call to tower.  Tower started reading a clearance to an IFR airplane, when he finished I called again.  There was a 10 second pause then he re-read the middle part of the clearance.  
    So, in my mind at this point, he was having a protracted conversation on ground and was the only controller in the tower.  I was at 3.5 miles at this point, inside class D airspace.  I turned 120 degrees and started climbing(both actions to get my out of Class D as soon as possible)  2 minutes later, with me clear of the Class D and the controller having clarifed the clearance several times, he called me and cleared me inbound.
    On donwind he asked me to call him when I landed, which I did.  He was very friendly and made the point that I was not allowed to enter his airspace without contact between us.  I asked about the handoff between approach and tower.  He told me that he had received notifictaion but that did not relieve me of actually having contact with him prior to entering.  He also acknowledged that it was frustrating for him to be re-reading the same clerance three of four times, knowing that I was inbound.  He stated that he should have broken off the clearnace reading and made contact with me.  I was the only one in the area and it was severe clear.  In other words a 2 second conversation with me, “N1234, enter left downwind, report midfield”  Would have bought him another two minutes of time with his ground traffic and allowed me a better inbound flow.
    What I learned:  Do not assume that a handoff from approach, even when only a minute or less form Class D allows you to go into class D.  Just becuase it had worked smoothly the previous 200-300 times did not relief me of the burden of ensuring I had contact after the hand-off. 
    What the controller told me he learned.  Inbound flight traffic should be given priority over an airplane on the ground.

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