Safety in the vicinity of non-towered aerodromes - Australian ...

Half of these enroute occurrences (n = 82) involved situations where other pilots in
the vicinity of a non-towered aerodrome did not hear the recommended ‘enroute’
broadcast on the CTAF from an enroute pilot. This may have been due to the
broadcasts not being made by the enroute pilot. However, distractions, low radio
volume, one of the aircraft being tuned to an incorrect frequency, radio equipment
problems, or other situational awareness issues may have contributed to these
broadcasts not being heard.
Clear of runway
In 31 occurrences, an aircraft on final either landed with, or was forced to conduct a
go-around due to, an aircraft backtracking on the active runway. In some of these
cases, it was likely that the pilot of the landing aircraft had assumed that the preceding
aircraft had cleared the runway at the end of its landing roll, even though a ‘clear of
runway’ broadcast was not made (as recommended by CAR 166), or a ‘backtracking’
broadcast had not been made. A review of the 709 occurrences between 2003 and
2008 found that aircraft that backtracked down a runway without making an
appropriate ‘backtracking’ broadcast led to a loss of separation assurance between
two aircraft on six occasions. These situations reinforce the importance of listening to
the CTAF and being aware of the position and intentions of other operating aircraft.
While backtracking broadcasts are not required, they help to reduce the chance of
runway incursions by improving the situational awareness of pilots on approach, or
who are intending to enter the runway.
From the information provided to the ATSB in occurrences reports, there was not
enough detail to establish whether pilots had made broadcasts on the CTAF indicating
that they had cleared the runway.
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