Good morning!

I fly a part 91 business jet and I had a discussion with the other pilot I was flying with. We were landing at a class D airport that was not at all busy. He was the pilot flying, and as soon as our mains hit, nose still in the air, tower transmitted "say parking". Our last callout for TRs is at 60 knots. I did not respond to the tower, and he asked again as we were hitting 60. The pilot I was flying with, many more years of jet experience than me, said "Why didn't you answer"?

My response was that until I make my last call-out on the landing rollout, as far as I'm concerned, it's sterile cockpit and a critical phase of flight and it has been my understanding that ATC should not talking to you until you get to taxi speed. That said, me responding to him at 60 knots should give the tower adequate time to know we're going to make a right turn.

Is there anything regulatory about this or something in the controller's handbook? What are your thoughts on this? Practical vs. textbook?

 

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Some TWR controllers will start blabbering as soon as your mains touch down.
Ignore till YOU are ready to talk.
I haven’t bothered to look anything up but I’m sure there’s a blurp somewhere and also in his Controllers handbook.

 

You can coordinate that prior to landing if you are that far ahead.

I wouldn't debrief your actions. Sounds pretty good.

 

I say good call by you! Fly the plane first at all costs.
Don’t let ATC rush you. Another feared thing is using the word “unable”. Don’t allow yourself to get pushed into a place you don’t want to be.

 

Communicate when you are able but your idea on sterile cockpit isn’t standard.

 

Yeah they do this to airliners too, just ignore them until the plane is clearly able to stop and make the turnoff, and callouts and urgent flows are complete.

 

The Air Force pilot controller handbook does specify (as far as I recall) not to communicate with the landing aircraft during the landing rollout. To me, it's no different than they talking to you on the takeoff roll. Me answering them at 60 (in this aircraft) or another at 80 once all the calls are complete seems to prioritize focus on a critical phase of flight, in my eyes. I'm just wondering if it's in the FAA controller's handbook.

Thanks for the replies

 

Your point is valid. Landing roll is not the time to be requesting information, issuing taxi instructions, etc. If tower wanted your parking spot or to request you exit the runway on a specific taxiway, they could have communicated that with your landing clearance.
But, trying to link the tower's poor comm practices with sterile cockpit is a bit strange. Sterile cockpit is an internal measure. When SC applies, you refrain from non-essential activities in the cockpit. It has nothing to do with ATC.

 

I've had this on occasion. If I'm completely occupied, silence. Otherwise, I may key the mike and say "landing." That generally suffices.

Parking is non-essential conversation in the middle of a landing.

 

Sterile cockpit refers to only essential communication because it's a critical phase of flight. Why would you think it would not apply? Is it more a semantics/wording issue?