Originally Posted by a4fly
but is it really necessary to put controllers under the sort of pressure that this chap was under? 737s, turboprops, goodness knows what else don't mix with student pilots with 1 solo under their belt ( my view, of course).
That's the job, that's what you get paid for, that's why you get checked every year. In all fairness you're talking rot as cjboy and contacttower have already implied. There was nothing in that scenario which involved "pressure" as far as traffic loading. Apart from the late transfer to APR from London there was nothing there out of the ordinary.
The student wouldn't have been sent solo unless he'd proved he could integrate with other traffic. It's no different to where I work, where we have an even greater mix of traffic - the instructors know that and we trust their judgement. It's up to us, as ATCO's to keep things standard for pilots no matter what their experience levels - it didn't happen here. THAT was the problem - nothing else.