I have not read all 70 odd ages diligently, but a hell of a lot of the salient discussion here... may I add a couple of observations?
When ATC knows that 'two Americans' (better still, two strangers) are flying in their airspace, and might even know or suspect that they are 'one-time' visitors... wouldn't it be good manners, as well as good stewardship of airspace, to take a bit more care and diligence over guiding their flight safely through what may be unknown territory? A slightly more watchful eye than a regular national flight for instance.. ?
Ok shoot me... but that's another kind of human factor one would think might be factored into ATC thinking.
Offsetting... I've read the lot. And yes, as a non-pilot (in your terms at least), I'm still gobsmacked that airways haven't long since been segregated laterally and that no aircraft should be on the centreline for long... The implications of increasing traffic and the introduction of GPS systems should surely have been thought through years ago.
I hate to criticise but a lot of the 'What if' thinking I thought was embedded in every aspect of aviation appears to have gone missing.
And for that ATC radar set to revert to 360Z360 , some non-aviation thinking there, that doesn't quite tie up with last known good height
For the sake of all those lost souls, the stubborness of thinking and tendency to not take high account of unusual circumstances and human factors in some areas of aviation, must be shifted aside...
Last edited by HarryMann; 9th Feb 2008 at 00:13.