Fox in sox
10th Aug 1999, 05:10
I’m sorry but this is a bit of a whinge but with serious implications.
There are times when the standard of RT displayed from both sides of the radio is well below what it should be.
I find it hard to believe that crews, especially those familiar with busy environments, cannot tell when a frequency is busy. I therefore wonder why we get so many cross transmissions and people seemingly deliberately stamping on the end of someone else’s transmission. 9 times out of 10 it just results in a readback having to be repeated and normally doesn’t get you noticed anyway because all we get is indecipherable squeal. I realise that there are times when what has to be said needs saying now but if it’s just a request for push back or an ‘any chance of higher?’ surely it can wait. This does not mean that in an emergency you shouldn’t use any means necessary to make yourselves heard but if it’s just to decide whether to get the coffee out or not, surely it can wait. One day it could be you with something really important to say getting stamped on, and trust me it has happened.
As you probably already know level busts have been the big thing lately. This is not quite a level bust issue but close. Can some one tell me why some people having reported vacating a level then spend the next minute, or more sometimes, within 100 feet of it? Don’t forget if you report out of a level we can climb below or drop on top. Needless to say if you are still there it causes a problem and has done very often. So please don’t report ‘out of’ until you really are. The same goes for runways but with more serious implications. Vacated means exactly that, not ‘I’m going to take the next one’ or nearly vacated. You are not always in view and therefore we may have to take your word for it.
Having had a moan at you drivers now it’s our turn. I am actually appalled by the amount of controllers I hear shouting at and being sarcastic toward aircrew. Just because someone has misinterpreted what was said or simply not understood does not open hunting season on him or her. Apart from anything else it makes no difference to the situation, if anything it makes it worse. The time spent giving out tongue-lashings could be better spent solving the problem. Plus I have a theory that the regulars recognise our voices, like we do theirs, and therefore will remember who was the guy that helped them out or who just gave them grief. One day you might need their help to get you out of a jam and maybe paperwork!! Exactly the same goes for inter controller relations. Too many people try to blame someone else before sorting out the problem. Think priorities. Maybe if the stress today is so bad you should have stayed home. I am quite proud of the fact that I have never bawled anyone out and try to instil this in the new blood, because I don’t see how it can ever help.
Having said all that, idle chatter, of which we are all guilty of, is quite prevalent during quiet periods but sometimes, even when busy, can be good to take the tension out of what could otherwise be stressful moments for all concerned. Although it is well and truly against the rules I believe that it has a place. If we see each other as friends or allies maybe we can make the system work better. Trust me, us ATCOs don’t really hate aeroplanes and their crews. Apparently the world in which we all work is stressful enough without controllers or crews, making it any worse. How about we really try to work together and stop seeing each other as the enemy?
Nah forget that last bit, that’ll never work.
Sorry but I posted this on two boards because I didn’t think pilots would read the ATCO one.
There are times when the standard of RT displayed from both sides of the radio is well below what it should be.
I find it hard to believe that crews, especially those familiar with busy environments, cannot tell when a frequency is busy. I therefore wonder why we get so many cross transmissions and people seemingly deliberately stamping on the end of someone else’s transmission. 9 times out of 10 it just results in a readback having to be repeated and normally doesn’t get you noticed anyway because all we get is indecipherable squeal. I realise that there are times when what has to be said needs saying now but if it’s just a request for push back or an ‘any chance of higher?’ surely it can wait. This does not mean that in an emergency you shouldn’t use any means necessary to make yourselves heard but if it’s just to decide whether to get the coffee out or not, surely it can wait. One day it could be you with something really important to say getting stamped on, and trust me it has happened.
As you probably already know level busts have been the big thing lately. This is not quite a level bust issue but close. Can some one tell me why some people having reported vacating a level then spend the next minute, or more sometimes, within 100 feet of it? Don’t forget if you report out of a level we can climb below or drop on top. Needless to say if you are still there it causes a problem and has done very often. So please don’t report ‘out of’ until you really are. The same goes for runways but with more serious implications. Vacated means exactly that, not ‘I’m going to take the next one’ or nearly vacated. You are not always in view and therefore we may have to take your word for it.
Having had a moan at you drivers now it’s our turn. I am actually appalled by the amount of controllers I hear shouting at and being sarcastic toward aircrew. Just because someone has misinterpreted what was said or simply not understood does not open hunting season on him or her. Apart from anything else it makes no difference to the situation, if anything it makes it worse. The time spent giving out tongue-lashings could be better spent solving the problem. Plus I have a theory that the regulars recognise our voices, like we do theirs, and therefore will remember who was the guy that helped them out or who just gave them grief. One day you might need their help to get you out of a jam and maybe paperwork!! Exactly the same goes for inter controller relations. Too many people try to blame someone else before sorting out the problem. Think priorities. Maybe if the stress today is so bad you should have stayed home. I am quite proud of the fact that I have never bawled anyone out and try to instil this in the new blood, because I don’t see how it can ever help.
Having said all that, idle chatter, of which we are all guilty of, is quite prevalent during quiet periods but sometimes, even when busy, can be good to take the tension out of what could otherwise be stressful moments for all concerned. Although it is well and truly against the rules I believe that it has a place. If we see each other as friends or allies maybe we can make the system work better. Trust me, us ATCOs don’t really hate aeroplanes and their crews. Apparently the world in which we all work is stressful enough without controllers or crews, making it any worse. How about we really try to work together and stop seeing each other as the enemy?
Nah forget that last bit, that’ll never work.
Sorry but I posted this on two boards because I didn’t think pilots would read the ATCO one.