Mooney accident pilot refused a clearance at 6,500'

[TwoFiftyBelowTen]

Originally Posted by Maggie Island

I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned more, no one expects a trainee controller/pilot to deliver a champagne quality experience - but the training system must be robust enough to ensure a minimum standard of service is consistently delivered.

Looking at the details of this report I’m not entirely sure a clearance through Coffs airspace could’ve changed the tragic situation - but hopefully this will at least start the conversation of making sure the wheels don’t fall off while training.

Maybe the controller would have then been strung up for issuing a clearance when the ARFOR suggested VMC on the route was doubtful