Does anyone know the story here?

Xcaliber

Xcaliber

El Chupacabra
http://soundcloud.com/kevin-meyers/cessna-at-kiwa-gets-owned-by/s-kUzMg

That's some pretty darn assertive talk coming from the controllers. Even with the worst pilot deviations, I've only known controllers to get the plane out of their airspace, and then call the FAA. In this case: "You WILL land here at Gateway." "You've proven yourself a risk to aviation safety...Park at the FBO, and have an instructor fly you out of the airport." Then the ground controller chastises her for not knowing where she's going when she wasn't planning on landing at a major airport.

On the other hand, I can't imagine that any controller would have done something like this unless the pilot really screwed up. So...what happened?
 
I saw this on Facebook and was wondering what happened. Just based on the audio clip the pilot sounds confused but she was reading back instructions properly and presumably following them.
 
Willie is a contract tower. Obviously they have to follow the regs, but they have a lot more freedom in what they can and cannot do. Also, keep in mind it's a heavy, heavy training environment with lots of schools that operate on very tight timelines. This can lead to instructors sending unprepared students out into the airspace, causing all kinds of problems.
 
Gateway Tower doesn't mess around. They are very strict! Just a few weeks ago my student was stepped on while reading back instructions and the controller missed his call sign. Right away he started to chew him out till I took over. I was told they are ex military controllers and they tend to treat the aircraft that are based at Gateway a little better than all the other traffic in the valley but that is common at most airports.
 
She had no clue what was going on, sounded like me on my first solo x-cty!! (or was that on the last trip?)
 
Sounds extreme, but if what we heard was any indication of what happened before, the pilot shouldn't be flying. Both controllers pretty much has to hold her hand. The tower guy assessed that she was a threat to flight safety, and decided to do something about it instead of just getting her out of his airspace and saying "it's not my problem".

Kudos to the tower staff.

EDIT:

KIWA is on liveatc.net. If we can find out when this happened, we can get the whole story.
 
rframe said:
By what authority does a controller ground an airplane and force remedial instruction? I think none.

Not saying the pilot didn't need it, but I'm pretty sure that controller was on a bit of a power trip.
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That would be the Flight Standards Service, last time I checked.

Not defending crappy aviating, by any stretch of the imagination, but there is a process for this...
 
Autothrust Blue said:
That would be the Flight Standards Service, last time I checked.

Not defending crappy aviating, by any stretch of the imagination, but there is a process for this...
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Exactly. While a controller might ask for a call (in which case you're a fool to say anything incriminating on the phone because it's being recorded, decline to comment and get an aviation lawyer) and the controller might pass the events along to an inspector for investigation, that's it.
 
rframe said:
By what authority does a controller ground an airplane and force remedial instruction? I think none.

Not saying the pilot didn't need it, but I'm pretty sure that controller was on a bit of a power trip.
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True, he already told her to call the tower and it sounded like she was trying to leave their airspace for Falcon Field. But, we don't know what lead to all of this and if she wasn't following earlier instructions, she may not be familiar with the area and KIWA, KCHD and KFFZ are pretty close to each other, congested with traffic back and forth.
 
rframe said:
By what authority does a controller ground an airplane and force remedial instruction? I think none.

Not saying the pilot didn't need it, but I'm pretty sure that controller was on a bit of a power trip.
Click to expand...

If you're flying around in his airspace, I'd say he has every right. The controller is responsible for separation. If somebody isn't playing by the rules, he has to do something about it. Where I used to teach, it wasn't unheard of for the tower to deny a touch and go, and instruct a student to return to the ramp.
 
Back in the old days of instructing down in Florida, we had a Chinese student on a solo XC to Tamiami end up in the pattern at KMIA. He caused several airliners to go around. When he finally landed, they sent the airport cops over to prevent him from taking off. We got a call from the tower manager wanting a native (US) pilot to come fly the plane out. They were so happy no metal got bent, they didn't file any deviations or notify the FSDO. They just wanted the Chinaman gone.
 
Funny you should say that. I heard from a reliable source that a student got slightly off course on the way to Tamiami, and wound up on final to FLL, while talking to Tamiami tower. Oops!
 
For some reason I want to think that she was a student pilot. I know she mentioned she was a private pilot in the audio. But she also sounded a tad (ok very) stressed out. I would also like to see the radar feed on this but I have a feeling that isn't happening.

Speaking of KIWA there was a USA Today article about one of the coaches for the Arizona Cardinals doing his first solo out there. Apparently he slipped up and ATC tore into him pretty bad.
 
KIWA has become an interesting place over the past few years. Lots of training traffic mixed in with some of the National carriers who seem to be adding flights. I think the controllers over there are a little quick tempered. Comparing them to the masterminds at KDVT, the Deer Valley controllers know mistakes will be made and keep a close eye out. The KIWA controllers tend to get pissed pretty quick when things don't go accordingly and seem surprised when a miscommunication or mistake occurs.
 
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