This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
I, a student pilot, reported in and requested landing at 10 nm northwest of ZZZ. I neglected to note I was a student pilot during the call.
I was given instruction to proceed direct to base XXR at best safest speed. There were several aircraft reporting in for landing.
When I entered base XXR, I was instructed by tower to turn in 45°, direct to the numbers clear to land. At this point I was descending at approximately 1,300 MSL. I was about 10 knots fast in the descent, however I executed a landing approximately 200-300 yards past the VASI.
Due to my speed, I was unable to exit the runway at the first taxiway. Tower reported that I was to exit at Runway XY. That message came in garbled and I was unable to clearly hear that message. I was unable to turn at Runway XY.
Tower contacted me and I told them I had past the runway and needed to continue to Taxiway 1. They in turn asked aircraft landing behind me to go around. Upon exiting on Taxiway 1, tower told me to proceed via Taxiway 2 to destination.
I attempted to contact ground on my second radio, a KX 155 TSO. I was unable to transmit and receive any messages. Simultaneously tower notified me to contact ground, as I was attempting to change my primary radio, a Garmin GNS 430, to ground frequency. Tower commented over the radio for me to ensure in the future I communicated if I was going to miss a turn for correction in the future.
After making successful contact with ground, I provided my destination location, and was asked to move via Taxiway 2, crossing Runway XZ and hold at XX for landing aircraft. Following the hold, and ground clearance, I proceeded to final destination.
Cause
First error occurred in pilot not relaying student pilot status.
Second error occurred when pilot accepted the tower direction for 45° cut in from base to the numbers. This led me to be slightly higher in altitude and speed than my normal previous experienced landings, but I felt I could do it. This caused me to overshoot the area for general aviation aircraft.
This, combined with the tight positioning of aircraft in the pattern, caused tower to need to ask next in line aircraft to go around.
Final error: Upon noticing I was having an issue with my radio, I should have communicated that with tower, while also switching primary radio to ground frequency.
Solution
Ensure pilot announces student pilot status to tower until no longer in student status.
Second, upon receiving something outside my normal experience, I could have requested a change in pattern and reminded tower of student status, which may have changed tower’s approach to the line-up.
As I noticed the long landing, knowing of the subsequent traffic, I could have requested a go-around.
Lastly, I will be submitting my secondary radio set for inspection at qualified avionics shop.
Primary Problem: Ambiguous
ACN: 2142508
