Originally Posted by
Hotel Tango
I totally agree that a radar vector to 018 just wouldn't happen.
Precisely. ATC only work in five degree heading increments. A fact that is lost on many pilots who (for instance) report heading of 347 instead of common sense rounding to the nearest heading (345) which is all ATC are interested in anyway. Sorry to thread drift a little with one of my bugbears though.
Regardless of the lack of SA of the EVA crew (and that is clear) how can the controller escape censure for the way she dealt with this incident? Ambiguous instructions and, when clear that a lack of understanding has taken place, she continues to rabbit those same instructions in a frustrated tone in the expectation that something is going to change.