STAR Clearance limits
Ok, I am not entirely sure that I am posting in the correct forum here, but I just wanted to post a question to all you pilots out there. I am an Air traffic controller, working the London TMA, and just recently I have experienced or heard many of my colleagues mentioning aircraft inbound to LHR during busy periods of the day, are missing the hold they are inbound to, and then saying to the controller involved that they were not instructed to hold. As you can all imagine, the London TMA is a very busy small bit of airspace, and OK, yes, the Air traffic controller should really be telling you to expect a hold, but on the rare occasion it may get forgotten, we rely on the fact that the clearance limits in your STAR charts is the hold you are inbound to. Why is it then that there are so many pilots just recently that seem to be unaware of this fact? It can be a safety critical thing for us. Do you expect to be told every time there is a hold that you should hold, or else otherwise you will just continue to make your own approach? I just ask out of curiosity. Look forward to your responses!