should god forbid, the controller miss something, he/she can always say "ah but you were on a limited service". It is a cop-out in my opinion and used far too much.
No cop-out at all, Widge. Under any service outside CAS, the pilot is ALWAYS where the buck stops. ATC has no jurisdiction over whatever may or may not be out there. There are a/c around designed specifically not to paint on radar, and there are also a lot of a/c that just dont paint well. Think wooden, glass fibre, small/no engine. It is by definition NOT a known traffic environment. Please don't get lulled into a false sense of security by having a radar service. You could very easily be given avoiding action on an a/c we
can see which could turn you straight into the path of one we
can't.
Limiting a service is giving the pilot a "heads-up" that we may not be able to give him the high level of service we would like to, for any or all of the reasons Widge gave. It's a warning; not a cop-out.
I would perhaps agree that services are limited too much these days. However, as my Sup is wont to tell me - added value = added risk. If I don't limit the service & the worst happens, are you going to GUARANTEE that I will not end up in court?
Two words.
Ben Macdui.
ap