Small Aircraft
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50; Flight Crew Total 515; Flight Crew Type 100
Confusion; Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Airport; Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure
The White County Airport (MCX) shares a CTAF/UNICOM frequency with the Starke County Airport (OXI). The two airports have identical runway configurations -- a single Runway 18/36 -- and are located approximately 37 miles apart; well within radio range for pilots at both airports to hear one another.Every time I visit this airport we run into one of three problems on the radio:(1) Foreign student pilots who cannot adequately pronounce 'Starke' or 'White' with enough clarity to avoid confusion.(2) Pilots at either airport believing someone said 'Starke' when they actually said 'White;' and beginning a conversation about who said what and where he/she is located.(3) Pilots who use city names in their CTAF broadcasts -- Monticello for White County; or Knox for Starke County -- which would be preferable if everyone on the radio were on the same page; which is not the case.The FAA should move either airport to a separate frequency so long as pilots will continue to make position announcements using 'White County' or 'Starke County' as their respective airport name.
A pilot reported that because MCX and OXI are in close proximity and share a common CTAF frequency; sometimes an aircraft's location is confused. Reporter stated some pilots do not clearly speak the respective airport names adding to the confusion.