Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Procedure; Airport; Company Policy
Operated Aircraft X. We were a two man crew; neither of us has been to ZSWX. As a special airport I have read all the available material related to the airport in the Jeppesen; station guide; NOTAMS; and the notes in the flight plan. The second page of the flight plan had special procedures for ZSWX identical to the special procedures pointed out in the NOTAMS. The last item reads: 'EVEN IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED ATIS; CONTACT TOWER 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO LANDING FOR WEATHER AND ARRIVAL INFORMATION; IF NO RESPONSE CALL BACK EVERY FIVE (5) MINUTES'. Related to the above statement; in the Jeppesen CO pages under arrival; the first item states: 'ATC REQUEST CREWS TO CONTACT TOWER 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO ARRIVAL TO RECEIVE WEATHER AND ARRIVAL INFORMATION. IF NO RESPONSE ON INITIAL REQUEST; CALL BACK EVERY FIVE MINUTES'. Apparently a very unique procedure for ZSWX is to establish communications with Tower to advise them of intent to land at ZSWX 30 minutes prior. But judging by the above statements that requirement is not very obvious; both statements are muddied up by including obtaining Weather and arrival information in the mix; neither indicate that such a call is mandatory to inform tower of the intention of landing at ZSWX. Furthermore the second statement puts it as a 'request' and not a mandatory requirement. As part of our descent planning; a time mark was inserted in the fix page to contact tower 30 minutes out. We were instructed to descend to 6000 meters / 19700 feet at about 230 miles from ZSWX airport. This put us at a disadvantage trying to establish communications with tower to obtain weather and arrival information. An attempt was made but to no avail; however; and to our surprise; we were able to obtain ATIS. We were handed over to approach control with further descent to 5400 meters / 17700 feet. When we asked which arrival to expect; the controller had no arrival information to provide us; and he handed us over to a second approach controller with further descent to 3600 meters / 11800 feet. The second controller informed us to plan on ILS Z runway 21. As the wind was favoring Runway 03 and according to the station guide; NOTAMS; and the filed flight plan; we planned; briefed; and had JTN 01A arrival/ILS Z Runway 03. That meant that we had to change and brief the new arrival and approach procedure; as soon as that was accomplished we were handed over to a third approach controller with further descent instructions to 1800 meters / 5900 feet and told to expect JTN 01A arrival / ILS Z Runway 03; which meant reprogramming the arrival and approach in the FMS for the second time in the span of a few minutes. Flying the airplane safely with all that was going on took priority over contacting tower; especially that we already had ATIS and arrival information! At about 3500 meters; roughly 10000 feet; and in accordance with the Jeppesen CO pages; we were handed from approach to ZSWX tower. That was about 55-60 track miles from touchdown (flying the full approach as we were cleared). That is over 15 minutes from landing. We communicated with tower throughout the arrival and approach phase; and we were cleared to land by ZSWX tower after we reported that we were established on the ILS. After landing we were instructed to taxi to parking. Up to this point there was no indication from ATC of any miscommunications or that the crew was not in compliance with any procedures. To our surprise when the station rep came up on the airplane; he informed me that tower is saying that we landed without a clearance! I informed him that there must be some misunderstanding as I am certain that we had clearance to land. Upon querying the First Officer he concurred that of course we had clearance to land from tower prior to landing. At that point the rep explained that the clearance to land in question is in reference to the 30 minute call that is apparently a mandatory call when flying into ZSWX.Furthermore he informed me that this hashappened before with the previous crew and that the tower needs a written explanation / apology from the Captain. I was handed a blank sheet of paper and asked to make a statement explaining why we could not establish communications with tower 30 minutes prior to our arrival. Even though I found their request unwarranted; as we were in full communications with tower 15 minutes prior to landing; I did comply with the request to prevent escalating the situation any further. In my written statement I briefly explained that more than once; attempts were made to establish contact; but when we became busy with the conflicting and changing ATC instructions; in the interest of safety flying the airplane and complying with all ATC instructions took priority over calling tower. That in the future we will try our earnest to make such a call. The rep informed me that he will e-mail the chief pilot so proper procedures are established to prevent this situation from re-occurring; and I informed him that I will also do the same.I question if a 30 minute call is a mandatory requirement and unique to ZSWX operations; why isn't it part of the official Jeppesen REF pages and not just an add on in the Jeppesen CO pages? If the local ATC requires such a call they should inform Jeppesen of such requirement to insure compliance by all operators who fly in and out of ZSWX; but that is beside the point!As I mentioned earlier; both statements from the NOTAMS and the Jeppesen CO pages lack the clarity that the 30 minute call to ZSWX tower is a mandatory requirement and not just a courtesy call; tying the call to Weather and arrival information adds confusion and ambiguity to both statements. There is no mention of any 30 minutes call in the station guide; the station guide need to include that information preferably using the same verbiage as the in the NOTAMS and Jeppesen CO pages for added emphasis.
Air Carrier Captain landing at a Foreign Airport; reported being required to make a written statement of apology when they did not contact the Tower 30 minutes prior to landing to get approval to land. This requirement is in addition to normal communications including actual landing clearance.