From the Face Palm Files...

Sometimes it's more fun to keep going rather than terminate them. The kind of quips you get when everyone gets to hear an IFR MO20 who "can't go direct to a VOR because I can't find it..." is kind of hilarious, for example...

I do have to admit that when I'm flying on the weekends when the WW's are out is heavily entertaining.

Probably the aboslute worst was when I was doing an ocean crossing and there was a guy in a single-engine airplane ferrying. Didn't have a good handle on HF comm, Lat and Long and had programmed his GPS with a 90 degree turn. We were all trying to get him to read off his present position, current heading and where he was trying to get to. Oh, and his fuel was low.

The guy was confused, lost and considering he was in a single engine airplane on a ferry, should have NEVER been out there trying to do what he was trying to do at his apparent experience level.

I don't know what ever happened to the guy.


Sent from my TRS-80
 
Bravo Zulu to that controller for keeping her cool. I hope this guy eventually had to make a phone call.

I'd have just told him "IFR flightplan cancelled, radar services terminated, squawk VFR, frequency change approved"
 
Bravo Zulu to that controller for keeping her cool. I hope this guy eventually had to make a phone call.

I'd have just told him "IFR flightplan cancelled, radar services terminated, squawk VFR, frequency change approved"

Looks like he was in the Bravo at the time this all started, so not an option even if we could cancel IFR for a pilot. Sometimes we wish, though...
 
I'll bet you anything the guy punched direct from JFK to CYN. She wanted him on V16 which is not a straight line between the two - she even gave him direct DIXIE in her first instruction. Or as a combo, he was going direct CYN and was homing.
 
I'll bet you anything the guy punched direct from JFK to CYN. She wanted him on V16 which is not a straight line between the two - she even gave him direct DIXIE in her first instruction. Or as a combo, he was going direct CYN and was homing.

Best part was that she gave him a heading to fly, and he refused.
 
Disregard - just saw the flight aware track and he was way off the airway.
 
What a tard. I would have loved nothing more then to hear her give other aircraft heading changes to keep them clear of the surface to air missile she just fired.
 
This guy is lucky he didn't get one of the more •-y ny approach controllers!

Oh yeah. An ExpressJet plane took off after us out of Newark one day. Checks on with departure says:

Acey xxxx on board
-no answer-
Acey xxxx on board
atc: say again?
Acey xxxx on board
atc: what does that even mean?
acey xxxx we're on board
atc (pissed) last time I checked that's not how you check on with a departure controller. learn how to talk on the radio.

and then he got chewed out some more when the controller had more time.
 
Buddha knows I probably caused more than a couple facepalms in my time in Austin, but, damn...at least I owned them.
 
Oh yeah. An ExpressJet plane took off after us out of Newark one day. Checks on with departure says:

Acey xxxx on board
-no answer-
Acey xxxx on board
atc: say again?
Acey xxxx on board
atc: what does that even mean?
acey xxxx we're on board
atc (pissed) last time I checked that's not how you check on with a departure controller. learn how to talk on the radio.

and then he got chewed out some more when the controller had more time.

Is it any worse than "Departure United 123 twelvehundredfivethousand?"
 
Id be pissed if someone checked on saying they were "On Board" as well.

You get it on the other end too...

Approach BeerCan123 with you. Request RWY X, do you need the speeds?

*no response*

APPROACH BEER...CAN...1...2...3 WITH YOU. REQUEST RWY X DO...YOU...NEED...THE...SPEEDS????

*wtf? Seriously?*

BeerCan123, approach, verify you're out of (altitude) for (altitude), information X is current, (read ENTIRE weather observation), comply with the speeds on the arrival, expect runway XX (not the one you asked for, even if you're the only one in the sky).

Your random company traffic: That'll learn ya!

Sometimes you guys are worse to each other than we could ever be ;)
 
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