Flight following through regional airspace

[Spark141]

I'm trying to understand the comm requirements when you have obtained Flight following I had a situation where I obtained FF from Toronto centre but my on route path took me through a regional airports control zone. I didn't switch frequencies since I assumed Toronto centre would notify them in some way or tell me to contact them. Am I right in that assumption?

[ahramin]

Not at all. Receiving flight following does not relieve you from following the CARs, including being in contact with the required ATS unit for a particular block of airspace.

[A346Dude]

Centre will give tower a point out if they're talking to someone who will come close to, or enter, the tower's control zone. If the tower needs to talk to you, they will ask Centre to switch you to their frequency.

Did you actually enter the zone or just come close to it? If you did enter it, I would consider it good practice to ask Centre if they want you to switch prior to entering. I suppose the CARs say you need to contact tower regardless, but if you are talking to Centre and they have already coordinated with Tower, the extra call is merely frequency congestion.

[photofly]

Both the previous posters are right. You will usually be told to contact the tower if the tower wants you to. But if there's a mix up, or the en-route controller's attention is diverted elsewhere (or even if not) it's still your responsibility to abide by all applicable rules.

[Spark141]

In the case mentioned, I was close enough to warrant a call and I'll make sure I do so if ever in that situation again. Thanks for the help.

[thatdaveguy]

In the case mentioned, I was close enough to warrant a call and I'll make sure I do so if ever in that situation again. Thanks for the help.

I would suggest you ask centre if you should switch to tower.

It is not ideal to talk to 2 controllers at once for obvious reasons.

[photofly]

Right, but flight following is a discretionary service, and radio contact or clearance (as the case may
be) when entering a class D or C control zone is mandatory and carries penalties for failure. So guess which is higher priority?

[thatdaveguy]

Right, but flight following is a discretionary service, and radio contact or clearance (as the case may
be) when entering a class D or C control zone is mandatory and carries penalties for failure. So guess which is higher priority?

There's no need for the distinction. Just ask centre.

It's not like they're going to ignore your call after they've agreed to flight following. Just ask when you are more than .1 mile from the edge of the tower CZ so they have a chance to answer.