Originally Posted by
JOSHUA
Yesterday as I monitored 121.5 as we entered the London FIR, I heard a student pilot who was genuinely unsure of their position, being talked down and steered toward their nearest airfield. The weather in the area was VFR but likely marginal in places due to haze and showers, it was therefore very reassuring to hear such professionalism and a calm voice from the Controller who was guiding said pilot to safety.
What got my goat was the crass comment from an English voice wishing the lost pilot "good luck" in the most inappropriate patronising tone - completely inapproiate when said pilot may well have been on the verge of drifting into IMC and the subsequent loss control.
Can't we all just be professional and resist using 121.5 unless it's imperative that we do so?
Reminds me of the time I was solo flying a light twin across the Sahara - an exercise that takes a reasonable amount of planning because of overflight permits, distances between airfields and alternates, airfield opening hours, the limited range of light twins and (above all) their disproportionate range sensitivity to unexpectedly higher headwinds. As it happens, headwinds were 10-15 percent higher than forecast, so I realised I would not make Plan A. I reverted therefore to Plan B - which had also been calculated carefully. When the controller asked the reason for diversion I somewhat naively replied that I did not have enough fuel to make the original destination due to headwinds.
At this point some smug **** in an air-conditioned airliner cruising at FL350 butted in and made a sneering comment along the lines that my ops department would have a lot to say to me when I landed..