An American Airlines pilot operating flight 1479 from El Paso to Phoenix has quite a run in with air traffic control. He consistently fails to read back instructions, and gets grumpy – and later passive aggressive – as controllers try to avoid confusion.
- When air traffic control gives an instruction to “American 1479,” then you acknowledge the instruction with “American 1479.” That way everyone knows the instruction is read by the correct aircraft.
- And when you’re given a runway assignment for visual approach at an airport that has more than one runway, you read back which runway you’re planning to land on! We’ve seen recent incidents of planes having to go around too close to the last minute when attempting a landing on an occupied runway. And we’ve seen an American Airlines 777 cross the wrong runway in front of a departing Delta 737.
When Phoenix approach tells the pilot of this flight, “expect [runway] 25L” the pilot repeats “25L” but doesn’t acknowledge with his call sign. Then the pilot is offered runway 26, which is accepted – again no call sign. The controller has to remind him to “verify that’s you.”
Then when the pilot is given clearance for visual approach to runway 26, he acknowledges “Cleared for the visual approach, American 1479.” This time he used the callsign – but didn’t repeat which runway he was supposed to land on.
The pilot did not like being called out on this stuff,
Uh, we got a communication problem. Are you hearing this radio clear? Because I’m saying what I need to say but something’s not happening.
And the controller offers to have a very serious conversation on arrival:
American 1479, if you need a phone number, you can call in and we can talk about the case, but you misread the last three transmissions without a callsign and without a runway assignment. You need a phone number?
The American pilot responded, “I am not gonna waste my time.” But he immediately starts a throw down with the next controller once he’s talking to the tower. He very slowly articulates his callsign (American 1479). He’s given clearance to land, offering more sass in response, and the (new) controller says “Are you okay? You seem very hostile.”
This just isn’t the calm, measured demeanor you want at the controls. I share this because it was riveting to listen to and because what really struck me here is, you’re worried about diversity hiring being what leads to less than the best in the cockpit?
(HT: JonNYC)
@grumpywhiteguy we always hear the trope of the diversity hire struggling in training while his white hero saves him. Want to hear mine of how this supposedly diversity hire saved several superior white pilots from taxiing on to active runways, overflying ILS PRMs, reading back wrong calls too many times and basically sucking in training? Yeah they suck too, and many have no business flying.
@David Patrick: This is not about inexperience in the cockpit. The grumpy pilot was a 64 year old Captain.
@Tim: Correct two voices. But the calm voice on the ground was the FO (PF) and the belligerent voice was the Captain (PM). FOs typically man the radio on the ground.
Professionalism has no color or diversity.
More on @grumpywhiteguys post…sim training is an intense experience and pilots performance varies on how they handle it….some are more vulnerable to “checkitis” than others. Plenty of white men who are good pilots have struggled mightily in the high pressure environment they are exposed to. When I first started out in the profession I recall asking my Father (WW2 pilot who went on to a 32 year career spanning the DC3 to the 727 with UAL) if he got nervous before sim rides…..he said he did till he found out UAL had some pilots that the training department knew would need extra training when they were due for a check ride and UAL subsequently blocked off extra sim sessions for them. Didn’t mean they were unsafe pilots, but they needed extra training to pass. (Dad wasn’t one of them).
Two points to make ..to grumpy…1].every pilot makes mistakes in training, cherry picking those mistakes as “proof” they don’t belong is silly and hypocritical….everyone makes mistakes and everyone learns at their own speed,…. 2] how do you know the pilot who ultimately sued for discrimination wasn’t in fact, subjected to racism and passive aggressive taunts while in the training pipeline? How would you react if, during your training you encountered snide comments or people putting you under a microscope because of your skin color? You are jumping to a conclusion without knowing the full story.
Most white Male pilots are very good at what they do, so are most DEI candidates equally very good at what they do,……it’s sad how some need to take isolated incidents to create a false narrative. It seems their “opinions “ are based on racism, their own insecurities or just a need to jump on the current political bandwagon that is cultivating hatred against others to try and capture support for their ‘base” voters.
@MichaelFarano, …..diversity is good for professionalism. A pilot group made up of pilots from various backgrounds and life experiences and perspectives bring much to the table that enhances the profession…… A good pilot is always learning and an open mind learns much better than a closed one. A pilot can learn a lot from other pilots with a different perspective or background than your own.
Finally (maybe!) while I’m on a roll here ….keep in mind there are pilots out there that wanted to fly for a major airline. Some didn’t make it for various reasons, bad timing, poor interview skills or whatever. Some of the current anti DEI push is likely being fueled by bitterness and jealousy…..
anybody vulnerable to the opinions of a far right podcaster (that guy who said he was worried if he got on an airplane with a black pilot, the same is said by ignorant people about women too) are a good candidate for having weak interviewing skills