The problem with using "Souls On Board" isn't so much the ICAO-standards issue, but rather because it's not out of the realm of possiblity to have a passenger by the name of Gunnery Sgt .... USMC aboard and erroneously include him in the count. I know for a fact he wasn't issued a soul, and why would he be? The Corps built The Antichrist for the purpose of collecting those of others, like ours, and didn't require one himself in order to function.

Then there's the dog-soul issue if any happen to be in the hold. Some people get real funny about it.

POB vs SOB

I dunno. In the "land of the free, etc, etc", I think you are more likely to hear something along the lines of: "say souls on board and endurance", which seems to me to be more awe inspiring - something more fitting for communicating with someone wearing a big watch and expensive sunglasses.

In 40 years, I've heard "say souls on board" but never the question "endurance."

Stepwik,

I've always thought that was a bit confusing. ATC will ask for FOB but what they're after is endurance. In the heat of a non-normal situation where you've got an "Oh sh!t" element and possibly up to your armpits in checklists, it would be easy to give them the wrong answer in lbs.

Jeebus!! 11 pages of transatlantic bitching - man, this is painful.

It's very simple. The language is called English, there's a clue in the name. If you're not from England, it's no wonder these confusions will arise when you try to master it. I suggest that the US should adopt its majority language of Spanish for aviation purposes which should clear everything up a treat.

Toodle pip.

Yay!


England? Oh, you mean Angle Land. As in the Germanic tribe, the Angles. Wasn't there some bit about William, some Norman dude, too? And then there was that guy with the little mustache. . . Can't remember his name.

;)

Thanks Adolf H, i havnt laughed like that in a while:ok:

Heard this the other day, in the US but from a KLM captain. We were both talking to Norcal at SFO, he had just begun a go-around (no idea why) and used exactly that phrase as they vectored him around for a new approach. I guess he wanted to avoid being sent on a 20 mile downwind to fit in with the rest of the traffic - in fact they brought him in very close, almost like flying a traffic pattern.

Minimum fuel - Yes, a controller awareness call indicating they are requesting minimum delays without asking for priority, I think it works well in the West, but up in the New York area it will fall on deaf ears.

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.

Ironically, just the other morning I was listening to a couple of Delta flights as they checked in with Shannon and London and was struck by the fact that there was not a single "Good Morning" or "G'day" from either of them in any call they made. In fact they stuck to absolute standard phraseology. It really stood out and sounded very unfriendly. I guess they cannot win.

The guy with the little mustache [sic] never made it. Can't remember exactly why, but I think it was something to do with British pilots being the best in the World.

....and Czech,French,Poles,Canadian and plenty of others....even (say it quietly)Yanks!

Eventually...