Just an SLF
I'm just an SLF, and I'm from the UK, so I really don't know what language or strange political correctness formulations they use over in the US. However, even as an idiot foreign SLF, I do feel that the phrase "Emergency, smoke in the cockpit, roll trucks, please." should at the very least grab any human being's attention in a professional environment, because of that interesting word "Emergency". You know, Emergency, as out of the ordinary, hey, I am having serious trouble here
"Smoke in the cockpit" is also pretty clear as an indication that a pilot is having trouble. Please is a direct request. Previous comments about standard phraseology are a red herring here because the Tower's "excuse" was pranksters, and pranksters are also fully able to recite "Mayday Mayday Mayday. Let's not kid ourselves, the guys in that tower who couldn't react and then went fishing for an excuse are idiots - no amount of standard phraseology is going to upgrade their innate abilities. The fact that these guys are not employed in the third world is what is making y'all defend them. An IQ test administered as a condition of employment might prevent this type of situation, I hear firemen have physical tests.
The interesting thing is that now "jurisprudence" has basically been set in stone by the NTSB inquiry, which let the guys off easy. God help any pilot who requests assistance without some form of secondary ID like a squawk. The graveyard is a bad place from which to lodge a protest.
Last edited by edmundronald; 2nd May 2012 at 14:32.