On-call rotation at a small airport

As I shared in a earlier post, I obtained my private pilot license in June 2024. As an member at the aeroclub from the city of Montauban, one of you task in the association is to be on-call a full day once a year at the airport, usually on the week-end or public holiday when the secretary is off.

My first ever on-call was on 11th November 2024, just a few months after I officially became a private pilot. There are many tasks to handle, and that's why the person responsible for the security created a proper documentation for us to read (I always enjoy reading a good documentation).

The first task, and propbably the most enjoyable one, is to do a full inspection of the runway and the taxiways with your own car to clear any dangerous item that might lie there. Of course you should do it pretty early in the day, to avoid disrupting as much traffic as possible. To do so properly, you'll need to put a flashing light on your car, and talk on the radio as the "ground vehicule" while respecting the usual procedures.

Once this important task is done, it's just a matter of opening the hangar where our planes are parked, answering the phone, and helping pilots in whatever way they may need you: give them information about the weather, other flights, help them move a plane, etc.

And of course, my luck being what it is, what had to happen did happen. I received a call from a fellow pilot : “My engine stopped mid-air and I had to perform an emergency landing in the field”. Of course it had to happen on my first time, right? Fortunately the pilot did an amazing job, no one was injured and he landed the plane perfectly. So it was just a matter of helping him over the phone, managing the emergency services that called a few minutes later, and warn our president.

My next yearly on-call at the airport is on the same day this year, on 11th November 2025, and I really hope no pilot will end up in a field this time!