Date: 201810
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: Small Transport
Operator: Air Taxi
Operating under: Part 135
Flight plan: IFR
Flight phase: Cruise
Airspace: Class E ANC
ATC / advisory: Center ZAN
Reporter organization: Air Taxi
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; Captain
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Human factors: Communication Breakdown
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Contributing factors: Airspace Structure; ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings
Primary problem: ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings

Narrative: I was on an IFR flight plan from ZZZ to PARY (Ruby) and found according to my instruction a complete inability to communicate with Anchorage Center near Ruby or; for that matter; anywhere. I opened my IFR flight plan via FSS in Fairbanks; received my clearance from them and departed to Ruby in VFR conditions. I eventually picked up my clearance and continued. I am not sure at this point if I was cleared by FSS or ANC Center. I think it was FSS in Fairbanks through an FSS frequency. I climbed to my assigned altitude and flew to Ruby. I don't believe I ever talked to ANC Center. I was instructed by FSS to contact ANC Center on 127.0 near Ruby and that I was cleared for the approach. Interestingly enough the official weather was reporting low conditions at Ruby and when I got there it was wide open blue skies. I tried to cancel with 127.0 ANC Center no response; I also tried 120.9 and 133.1 no response. By now I am descending VFR and have no way to close or cancel my IFR flight plan. I finally manage to get in touch with FSS in Fairbanks and have them relay to ANC Center my cancellation of the IFR flight plan. No contact at all with Center. Good grief they have the radar but no communications. After I deplaned and reloaded at Ruby I once again had to file an IFR flight plan to [ZZZ; the origin airport] via FSS no comms with ANC Center on any frequency. I departed VFR flew up to my assigned altitude and maintained 7000. Bear in mind once again no direct communications with ATC. As I was flying along towards ZZZZZ the IAF for ZZZ it became once again pretty evident that ANC was still without any formal communication in the Ruby to ZZZ area. I must have called a hundred times or so it seems trying to get some sort of formal instruction on my approach into ZZZ. Luckily I was VFR above a 4000 foot under cast. And in some areas made contact with the ground. The dilemma is how to cancel IFR or how continue the approach. At this point I was 30 plus miles from ZZZZZ1 and was beginning to wonder what to do. Finally I made contact with another aircraft and asked them to relay to ANC Center a clearance for me to do the approach to runway XX in ZZZ. I received my relay clearance and while that was being worked I started a descent in VFR conditions. I was also ADS-B equipped and could hear and see all traffic in my area and there was none. It is amazing to me that this black hole or broken comms has been talked about and noted in many cases and to this day it is still not fixed. Maybe it is time. There was a pilot earlier who said he could not raise Anchorage either. So rather than make life miserable for pilots maybe we should put a frequency in there somewhere that works and I don't mean at 35 thousand feet it needs to be for those of us at the 7000 foot level. To say the least I was not at all happy with the com black out for ANC Center. I tried every frequency on record only to come up with blanks fix the black hole in communications with Anchorage Center in the ZZZ-Ruby corridor the mountains or some other problem is obviously a problem.

Callback: Pilot reported lack of radio coverage has been a chronic problem for many years. Published frequencies in chart supplement do not work. ZAN offered no solution; responding that radios are old and they try to fix them.  Center stated that they will continue to file pilot deviations. Safety is severely compromised when arriving at destination with no ATC communication to obtain an approach clearance.



Synopsis: Transport Captain reported an area with lack of communication coverage with ATC.