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Old April 8th 04, 05:15 PM
Tony Cox
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"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Arden Prinz" wrote in message
om...

I was approaching class C airspace for landing at the primary airport
for which the class C airspace is designated and I listened to the
ATIS. The ATIS said "all frequencies are combined on
TowerFrequency". So I tuned to TowerFrequency and made
my radio call to approach. The response that I got was that I
needed to call approach on the approach frequency. So, I guess
that begs the question ... when the ATIS says "all frequencies are
combined", which frequencies are included in "all frequencies"?


Based on the tower's reply, it appears "all frequencies" means tower,

ground
control, and clearance delivery frequencies. But that doesn't mean your
assumption was unreasonable.


It seems like a misleading ATIS instruction. I've often heard
"Clearance and Ground combined on xx.xx" but never "all
frequencies".

Some pilots - especially newly minted ones - don't realize and
don't really have any reason to suspect that different functions
are handled at different facilities. Publications like "Pilot Guide"
add confusion by listing ATIS, Approach, Tower & Ground in
little boxes for each airport. Who, without extra knowledge, would
suspect that "Approach" is handled by a different facility?

Arden's question isn't easy to answer anyway. If I were approaching
Monterrey (MTR), class C, approach is handled by a facility in
the tower on the floor below the guys looking out of the window.
If I heard "all frequencies" from MTR, I'd assume it means approach
too.