Were We Cleared to Land?

Were we cleared to land?  If you are a pilot flying in an "ATC world", you have probably asked yourself this question more than once.  If you can't remember, what should you do?  Land, because you are pretty sure you were cleared?  Ask, even though the controller may get annoyed with you?  Or just do a go-around?

Photo Courtesy of Mathew Haderlie, CFI

As a student pilot I remember thinking how silly it was in class when the teachers would talk about the consequences of landing without a clearance.  I wondered how somebody could be so negligent and land without a clearance?  It didn't make any sense to me.  However, I'd only heard the phrase "cleared to land" a handful of times, so it was still easy for me to remember.   I didn't realize that hearing those same 3 words over and over again might make them seem less important.

I remember the day clearly.  I was with one of my very first students doing some work in the traffic pattern.  We had already done quite a few touch-and-go's, but were determined to stay in the traffic pattern until he landed perfectly without bouncing/side-loading/floating down the entire runway, etc.  The traffic pattern began to get very busy and the control tower's frequency was incredibly congested.   Being the typical instructor I was , I tried to multitask and continue to teach my student, while making sure he made all the appropriate radio calls, and keeping all traffic ahead in sight so as not to have a midair collision.  I felt like I was instructor of the world!

Photo Courtesy of Mathew Haderlie, CFI

We were short final, and I was still teaching like crazy to help my student make a great landing.  The second the wheels touched down I thought, "have we been cleared for a touch and go?"  I honestly could not remember.  I didn't tell my student my concerns, and tower didn't say anything, so I was off the hook.  But the fear of thinking I wasn't cleared was more than enough for me to realize that I needed to change- I needed a way to remember my landing clearance.  I mean, who wants to land without a clearance and then get violated?  Not me!  So I made a plan.

During my flight instructor days I used the standby Comm 2 frequency to help me remember.  I would set the last 2 digits (after the decimal) to 00 prior to takeoff.  For our first landing clearance I would move it to .05 and when we landed, I would change it to .10.   On our second landing clearance, I would move it to .15, and when we were cleared to land I would move it to .20.  Not only was I able to keep track of every clearance and landing, but doing this also allowed me to keep track of the number of landings so I could accurately log them in the student's logbook.  I'm not saying you need to do this method, but find something that works well for you.

This method worked quite well for me.  Until I found myself at the airlines.  I didn't need to count multiple landings, and we needed all of the frequencies.  I told myself I would just have to remember.  However, a few months after training, I found myself asking that question again, "were we cleared to land?"  The captain couldn't remember either, so I had to double check with ATC.  Okay, this may have happened to me more than once...  Though there is no shame in double checking with ATC (better to be safe than sorry!), if you can figure out a way to remember so you don't have to ask again, that is best.

So yet again, I had to come up with a plan.  There is a timer on center of the yoke.  I decided that when we were cleared to land I would start the timer.  I know this might sound silly, but now I don't have to double check with ATC anymore, and I can land KNOWING that we were cleared.  If the timer is going, we are cleared.

So if you find yourself asking over and over again, "Were we cleared to land?", figure out a way to help you remember so you don't have to ask ATC (especially because, as luck would have it, right when you need to call ATC, you won't be able to get a word in).  You will be able to land, every time, knowing that you were cleared!

---Thank you Mathew Haderlie for the amazing pictures---