POB?
 

Have I missed something but flying yesterday I was asked for number of POB by both Benson and Brize -never before except when landing......

It's normal for military units to ask; some other agencies also. I always give it when asked to pass my details anyway. :ok:

Probably because the Military may have to show "duty of care" and are covered by "elfin safety" laws nowadays. Which is quite ironic given they play with guns & bombs.....

My local airfield always ask for POB.
They are never optimistic about my landings.

Same here but that is usually after telling them that on the initial contact, :mad:er's

I was working Boscombe yesterday with a "TS" and that wasn't asked..

I always answer "Standby whilst I check"....in a PA38.....

I always ask Unusual Attitude how many POB when he's flying his Cassutt:p

No, as far as I can recall, it's not changed for decades, they were asking for POB well before the "dreaded H&S stuff" surfaced. Not for their benefit, but yours and those with you in case your aircraft goes missing.

If in the U.S., how does an atheist cope with souls on board?

Just put an "R" in front of it...?

I'll get my coat.

SD

Even for a dualist it might cause problems: can a soul be physically located in space?

If in the US, the only time the atheist pilot will be asked about souls on board is if he has declared an emergency to ATC and things are looking bad... in which case he'll probably be looking for help from any possible source!

Otherwise US ATC couldn't care less how many people are in the plane.

Last time I flew in the USA - an island airport about 2 years ago, I gave POB at taxi, as I'm used to in the UK, and got ticked off for it by the instructor who was there for my BFR. I explained why it was normal in the UK, he offered that in the USA, they expected their emergency services to work out how many to rescue for themselves!

It's a view, on the whole, I prefer the British method.

G

So if there's no emergency declared, and the aircraft simply stops communicating and vanishes from radar, how do they know how many bodies the emergency services should be looking for?

The function of ATC is the US is to coordinate the use of airspace with as little intrusion and direction as possible. One of many functions of the individual is to coordinate with friends and relatives to look after himself however he thinks is appropriate.

Normal when taking off or landing at a military airfield but not for an en-route service. Many civil airfields ask too so that, as others have said, in case of emergency the rescuers know how many to look for.
I know I've said this before, but many years ago when I still worked at Farnborough, we had a report of an 'R22' crashing near Twyford and the two occupants had died. I checked the reg, saw we had worked it into Wycombe and noted it was a Hughes 269 not an R22. Phoned Wycombe and asked how many on board when it departed; they said it had booked out with 3 pob, so I contacted the AAIB investigator who was en-route (couldn't reach the rescue units on scene) and advised him. After a lot of searching, they found the third body some distance from the crash site and concluded they had exited the aircraft before impact.
There was always the chance this third person might have survived and died of their injuries had they not searched for them.

What a crock...


Presume all friends and Rels are constantly ringing up "ATC" with requests as to whether everyone has arrived at dest otherwise how would they know?

No thanks, I'll stick with our way and don't have a prob telling any ATSU how many POB it's one less thing to say when plummeting towards a school...

As well as not having a function to understand how many people are on every little plane, US ATC generally has no idea where VFR traffic is going unless that traffic asks for Flight Following to that destination. They control their piece of airspace, that's it, and don't over reach. Neither do controlled airports keep written records listing the tail number of the hundreds of planes that showed up unannounced that day. Nor does every airport have a fire crew standing by waiting for the next disaster. It works fine.

I've noticed a lot of pilots text to keep in touch after they land. I'm inclined to text my loved ones to say that they missed a good lunch at a distant airport, and they reply that the dog misses me.

???

:ugh:

OK, a little more explanation:

Before I taxi I say "Anytown Ground Piper 123AB, Joe's Hangars with Charlie for 24R" Then before I take off I say this: "Anytown tower, Piper 123AB holding short 24R, right downwind". They respond "123AB, Anytown Tower, Runway 24R cleared for takeoff, make right traffic" And then I go on my way. Acknowledging the takeoff clearance may be the last time I talk to anybody on the ground for the entire flight, for instance if the destination is an uncontrolled airport and if like most VFR traffic, I don't choose to call up later for Flight Following.

If I do ask for clearance through some airspace later in the flight, it'll typically be like this; "Bigtown Tower, Piper 123AB, 5 miles east, request south side transition" and the response might be "123AB, Bigtown tower, transition approved as requested, at or above 2,800, Big Town altimeter 29.87"

Nobody has any idea where I'm going.