Ooops, missed that call...!
 

Imagine the scenario, you are receiving an FIS, and you are busy navigating and looking after your pax, when suddenly you pick up a narky call asking where you've been as you'vve missed two calls and they've been trying to raise you.

So how do you get out of that one?

(This is purely hypothetical of course...!!)

Apologise profusely! I think we've all done it - turn down the volume cos of all the chat, then forget to turn it up again.

This works for me :........

'Sorry, I was on the land line'

"Apologies, distracted by a navigation task, please say again".

G

"Aaarr Eeehhh, sorry 'bout dat Liverpool tower but our Brittany just threw up all over our Chantelle and our Kylie wont stop crying......! :D :D

I had a simliar situation not too long ago, but a bit closer to home. I was in the circuit doing downwind checks and I missed the call from ATC instructing an orbit. My excuse is that I was new to the aircraft and was trying to figure out if fuel pump on was switch up or down. Didn't tell the controller that. Just said "G-xx go ahead" The tower had a distinct "yoohoo are you there" tone. Embarrassing, dangerous, poor airmanship, etc. Live and learn.

D

If its a FIS just humour them.

If they can't be arsed telling you about traffic if they are feeding there faces. So what if you miss the calls AS LONG AS you keep a fecking good look out.

I am may be getting bitter a twisted due to the local service in my Area (lossie) but they don't give you jack unless they want to move you in class G to make their life easier with IFR traffic.

So just follow the rule book and don't worry about it. BUT KEEP A BLOODY GOOD LOOK OUT.

MJ

"Sorry, I was ....err...... chasing a baloon"

(yes I include the man in a basket variety there too.) :O

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate... Tell them that they are number three on your list of things to concentrate on. So you'll get back to them shortly - if only!

I had this happen recently and I just apologised, didn't seem a lot else to do. I did learn from it though. Now I make sure my pax are quiet in the vicinity of an aerodrome just in case I get a call:confused:

Dont worry. Everyone misses calls at one time or another be they Mil or Civil, big or small, controlled or uncontrolled.

If it was London Info, I am often surprised that more of you dont miss your calls.

We are after all "just" an information service there to help you the pilot.

:ok:

You would expect better from people in so - called positions of authority!!!!!


as they say" I blame the parents you know";)

That should read Parent ;)

Any pilot that tells you that they never miss a call is telling fibs !

When it happens to me, I just say, "Apologies G-XXXX " and leave it at that. Dont bother giving a reason, it's just wastes frequency time.

It's really not a big deal, and neither you nor they should make it one. You missed a call; you were doing something else. They wondered where you were, as they had something to tell you. You're both human; it happens. You apologise - well, you had asked for an FIS hadn't you - and carry on.

"Sorry, I was on no 2 box" is what I normally get!

Or if you really want to take the piss


tell them you were on the land line

It has happened to me a few times - it's usually because my bloody radio's broke again and I'm furiously wiggleing wires trying to get the TX to work again! - mind you, those new little gas powered soldering irons have really helped recently he he :D

Kingy

SWANFIS: My usual approach to London Info is to call up, ask for FIS (having usually taken many minutes to get a word in), turn the volume down, then call them again when arriving at destination (well, I start trying several minutes before destination, so as to have some chance of getting a word in). So I don't expect London Info to have time to call me and I'm not really listening anyway. Really all one usually expects is an alerting service.

Imagine my surprise then the other Saturday when they kept calling me up, more or less just for a chat, as if they were bored. Clearly there was a lot less traffic than usual around that day! - don't know why though, there was nothing wrong with the weather.

(Or was it perhaps because I was only *just* outside the restricted airspace round a nuclear power station?)

Missing one call may not seem important to you, but when an ATCO is working there socks off trying desperately to get traffic information out to you and then has to repeat it several times its no joke.
On a FIS we are obliged to tell you about known traffic also working us, it is not just an alerting service.
Yes we all miss calls and as an ATCO I'm no different but for those who regularly don't listen out why bother asking for a service in first place, if all you want is the pressure setting why don't you just dial up the ATIS.

I agree with Eira.

It may not seem important to you, but you might not have seen the fast moving millitary traffic converging at the same level. The increasingly frantic atco has, and also has their license flashing before their eyes - he/she has very particular legal responsibilities once you are in receipt of a service, even if it's 'only' a FIS.

Also, if you are unable to respond to a request to confirm your level, or negotiate a course of action ( 9 times out of 10 what you were intending to do anyway, but we need to check ) then you might be causing major hassles to the atco who is trying to work IFR and/or heavy jet traffic around you.

I have to qualify the above - the odd missed call doesn't matter in the least. Atco's (mostly) appreciate that it is a lot noisier in your cockpit than it is in the tower. They also realise that you can be busy or distracted. The problem is the pilots who habitually call up for a service and then turn down the volume because they can't be bothered listening, and then bumble through an instrument approach leaving havoc in their wake. At the end of the day, why request a service if you don't want to keep your end of the bargain?