Originally Posted by
Ixixly
You're too polite Aussie Bob, stop letting yourself get pushed around by those ATC jerks, DEMAND!!
I spent 45 years in ATC. 18 in Australia and 27 in Hong Kong. I strongly object to the term ‘ATC jerks’ Ixixly. What about the pilot jerks? There are jerks in every occupation. In my career I have had to use the following phraseology 5 times. “xxx turn right/left immediately heading zzz, terrain ahead. Maximum rate of climb.” These have all occurred with departures turning towards terrain in IMC immediately after becoming airborne. Ever tried to convince a pilot on instruments that he/she is heading towards terrain? They don’t believe you. I’ve also had to tell 2 aircraft to turn and climb when on instrument approaches. One DC10 was 1800’ when he should have been at 4500’. This was in the days of no labels on the approach radar screen. Very luckily the long grange radar did have labels and for the reason I don’t know to this day, I looked across at it and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The other was a B747 that turned early on an ILS approach and headed straight towards a 3000’ mountain while on descent. Thank goodness that on each of those occasions the pilots concerned listened to ATC.
I’ve had aircraft nose to nose that have punched through their altitudes on climb and descent, (including Australia’s favourite airline.) Aircraft that have descended on the Glide Path while not established on the Localizer.
The thing is that as pilots, you never hear about ATC “saves”. In Hong Kong we had had at least 4 attempted take-offs on a taxiway at night. Each one was saved by the controller issuing a “stop immediately” instruction. On one occasion there was a sweeper truck on the taxiway.
Over the years I have been an advocate for better understanding between pilots and controllers. Before I retired, I used to look after Cathay Pacific Command Course pilots visiting ATC. The most common remark from those pilots was “I thought I knew how ATC worked but until this visit, I really had no idea.”
I have experienced hundreds of hours on aircraft flight decks. I think I have a pretty good idea what goes on and what pilots want from me. The longest I’ve ever had a pilot plugged in watching what I do was a QANTAS Captain friend of mine who sat with me for 10 minutes. Before you start making remarks about ATC jerks, why don’t you try and learn more about the other side of the microphone.