Assertive controllers - what do you expect?
The thread on a number of recent potential CFIT incidents on this Forum leads me to ask pilots reading this a fairly important question: how far should a Controller go in exercising his/her judgement to prevent such events? I was part of the team which investigated one such incident (from the ATC aspects only) and we considered that the controller should not have sanctioned an orbit on final approach; should have denied the pilot's request for this and should have instructed him to execute a missed approach.
This leads me to a wider issue: how do you guys (sorry, not being sexist but generic to all pilots) feel about this course of action being taken by an ATCO? For example, I often ask a pilot if the track miles I'm giving will be enough to lose height/speed for an approach. Not infrequently, I get the reply "err...we should be okay". That immediately makes me think that either the crew or the aeroplane are being asked to do something with which neither is entirely happy. Potential result - egg on face/hassle for us both if a late missed approach has to be made or an unstable approach. On more than one occasion I've watched the Mode C unwind slowly on the radar and dediced that this is possibly going to be a GS capture from above or that unstable approach will ensue. And I've then felt I've had to take the initiative and tell the crew that I am going to reposition them.
My concerns are these: there's apparently been an upward cycle of pilot recruiting in the airline industry in recent years and I have certainly been made aware, on occasion, of a reduction in experience/airmanship in both left and right hand seats. Add to that the huge variation in nationalities working together on flight decks, whereby at least one pilot may not have English as their first language. The self improver route to "going commercial" has long gone and I guess the number of ex-military pilots coming onto the civil job market has reduced as the services cut back their aircrew numbers. Additionally, many UK ATCOs now are very inexperienced (no self-studying route for us now; Cadets being sent to units after less than 1 year at Colleges; lack of job-appeal to many youngsters; hugely expensive to self-fund; retirement bulge with us). So - assertive ATCOs: good thing/bad thing or just tell me your views, in order that maybe I can pass them on to others at my unit, especially the "newbies". Thanks to all.